Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 372 Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 23.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 372 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,927,383 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $870,311,000 after purchasing an additional 96,410 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line during the 4th quarter valued at $494,916,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,510,101 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $442,784,000 after purchasing an additional 27,367 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,983,857 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $349,952,000 after purchasing an additional 261,305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,547,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $272,969,000 after purchasing an additional 185,500 shares during the last quarter. 77.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ODFL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley set a $185.00 price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $174.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $220.00 to $175.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $196.00 to $158.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $180.42.

Old Dominion Freight Line Trading Down 3.4%

ODFL opened at $162.11 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.26 billion, a PE ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 1-year low of $144.90 and a 1-year high of $233.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $177.09.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 28.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 4th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 4th. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.01%.

Old Dominion Freight Line Profile

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier in the United States and North America. The company offers regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, as well as expedited transportation. It also provides various value-added services, including container drayage, truckload brokerage, and supply chain consulting.