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

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

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Marten Transport in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 88.8% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,561 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in Marten Transport by 54.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,376 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 1,192 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Marten Transport by 24.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,587 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $117,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Marten Transport in the third quarter valued at approximately $181,000. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In related news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This trade represents a 6.83 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James lowered shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

Marten Transport Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $17.24 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $16.82 and its 200-day moving average is $17.32. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 12 month low of $15.33 and a 12 month high of $21.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05 and a beta of 0.82.

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

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Marten Transport 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.