Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) Shares Sold by Balyasny Asset Management L.P.

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lowered its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 71.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,527 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 77,859 shares during the quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRTN. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Marten Transport by 140.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,416,000 after acquiring an additional 79,689 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Marten Transport by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Marten Transport by 71.0% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,421 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 10,559 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new stake in Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Marten Transport by 158.0% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 303,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,732,000 after acquiring an additional 185,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Marten Transport news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 20,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $12.88 per share, with a total value of $257,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 176,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,272,598.72. This trade represents a 12.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens boosted their price objective on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Marten Transport from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday.

Marten Transport Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of MRTN stock opened at $13.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a PE ratio of 40.68 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $15.08. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $12.52 and a 52-week high of $19.26.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.05. The company had revenue of $223.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $228.79 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 3.52% and a net margin of 2.79%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 88.89%.

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.