Swiss National Bank Acquires 11,200 Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. $JBHT

Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:JBHT) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in J.B. Hunt Transport Services were worth $47,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in JBHT. State Street Corp raised its stake in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,122,669 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $592,015,000 after acquiring an additional 272,594 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,940,833 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $765,862,000 after purchasing an additional 84,149 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,755,171 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,780,000 after purchasing an additional 565,605 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services by 5.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,612,262 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $216,317,000 after purchasing an additional 82,939 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in the fourth quarter valued at $200,587,000. 74.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on JBHT. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Monday, July 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $280.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services from $225.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Susquehanna set a $345.00 price objective on shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.30.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock opened at $292.24 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $277.52 and a 200-day moving average of $240.59. J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. has a 52-week low of $130.12 and a 52-week high of $299.76. The stock has a market cap of $27.56 billion, a PE ratio of 41.39, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.29.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services (NASDAQ:JBHT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 15th. The transportation company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.20. J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a net margin of 5.31% and a return on equity of 18.75%. The business had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. J.B. Hunt Transport Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. will post 7.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Spencer Frazier sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $258.20, for a total transaction of $516,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,188,752.80. This trade represents a 30.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP David Keefauver sold 703 shares of J.B. Hunt Transport Services stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.13, for a total transaction of $200,446.39. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $225,252.70. The trade was a 47.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,847 shares of company stock worth $4,162,861. Insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Company Profile

J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc is a leading provider of transportation and logistics solutions headquartered in Lowell, Arkansas. The company offers a comprehensive suite of services designed to move freight efficiently across North America, including intermodal, dedicated contract services, full truckload, less-than-truckload (LTL), final mile delivery and specialized transport.

In its intermodal segment, J.B. Hunt leverages a network of rail and truck assets to transport containers and trailers on major U.S.