Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 15,044 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 675,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 15,044 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Marten Transport were worth $12,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 47.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $29,506,000 after purchasing an additional 451,340 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 4th quarter worth $9,997,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $91,023,000 after purchasing an additional 132,407 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 1st quarter worth $2,988,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 387,770 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,166,000 after purchasing an additional 6,429 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Marten Transport

In other news, COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total value of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,448 shares in the company, valued at $136,596.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRTN. StockNews.com cut Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Vertical Research cut Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.00.

Marten Transport Stock Performance

Marten Transport stock opened at $16.74 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $17.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.58. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a one year low of $15.33 and a one year high of $21.38. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a PE ratio of 23.58 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.01). Marten Transport had a net margin of 4.17% and a return on equity of 5.74%. The business had revenue of $246.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 33.80%.

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.