Point72 Asset Management L.P. Purchases Shares of 15,100 Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 15,100 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $267,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 78.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 2,323,979 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,673 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 13.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,402,776 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $25,881,000 after purchasing an additional 162,924 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 6.4% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $12,775,000 after buying an additional 41,505 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the second quarter valued at about $1,172,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter worth about $5,334,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 156,444 shares in the company, valued at $2,473,379.64. This trade represents a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRTN. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Raymond James lowered shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Marten Transport Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $17.24 on Friday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 1-year low of $15.33 and a 1-year high of $21.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.05 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $16.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.32.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. The business had revenue of $237.37 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.00 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 EPS for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Marten Transport Company Profile

Marten Transport, Ltd. operates as a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier for shippers in the United State, Mexico, and Canada. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal, and Brokerage. The Truckload segment transports food and other consumer packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment, as well as dry freight; and regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.