Bank of New York Mellon Corp Trims Position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 631,292 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 10,541 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $8,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRTN. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 288,223 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,954,000 after purchasing an additional 7,351 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the first quarter worth about $1,803,000. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Marten Transport by 81.1% during the first quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,496 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $831,000 after buying an additional 27,996 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 27,927 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 2,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 8,296.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 12,445 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Marten Transport Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $12.85 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.42 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $13.95. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $12.52 and a twelve month high of $19.26.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The transportation company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.09. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.27% and a return on equity of 2.72%. The firm had revenue of $229.92 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.09 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.10 EPS. Marten Transport’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.06 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $0.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is presently 92.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd.

Insider Transactions at Marten Transport

In related news, Director Jerry M. Bauer purchased 20,000 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction on Monday, April 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $12.88 per share, with a total value of $257,600.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 176,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,272,598.72. This trade represents a 12.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

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.