Next Century Growth Investors LLC Trims Stake in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Next Century Growth Investors LLC reduced its position in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 315,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 198,264 shares during the quarter. Next Century Growth Investors LLC’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $4,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Marten Transport by 22.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 685,308 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,130,000 after purchasing an additional 126,150 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 158.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 140.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,498 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,416,000 after buying an additional 79,689 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,410,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $24,977,000 after purchasing an additional 14,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Marten Transport by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 214,022 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after buying an additional 3,003 shares during the last quarter. 69.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Stephens raised their target price on Marten Transport from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Marten Transport Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ MRTN opened at $13.37 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $14.16 and a 200 day moving average of $15.65. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $12.52 and a twelve month high of $19.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.32 and a beta of 1.01.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.06 by $0.01. Marten Transport had a net margin of 2.79% and a return on equity of 3.52%. Equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.59%.

About Marten Transport

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.