State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN – Get Rating) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 110,342 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,183,000.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $438,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 138,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,731,000 after purchasing an additional 26,418 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 15,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2,114.3% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 254,334 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,031,000 after purchasing an additional 242,848 shares during the period. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the fourth quarter worth about $470,000. 68.27% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Thomas J. Winkel sold 5,313 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.12, for a total transaction of $106,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 53,674 shares in the company, valued at $1,079,920.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday.
Marten Transport Price Performance
Shares of MRTN opened at $19.64 on Thursday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a one year low of $16.00 and a one year high of $23.43. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a PE ratio of 15.11 and a beta of 0.88.
Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The transportation company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The business had revenue of $298.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $306.10 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.33 earnings per share. Marten Transport’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Marten Transport Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 18.46%.
About Marten Transport
Marten Transport Ltd. engages in the provision of temperature-sensitive truckload carrier services. It operates through the following segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal and Brokerage. The Truckload segment includes transport of food and consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment.
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