State Street Corp Acquires 14,088 Shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

State Street Corp increased its holdings in Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,339,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,088 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp owned about 2.87% of Marten Transport worth $41,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 80.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 182,165 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 81,219 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Marten Transport by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 692,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $12,775,000 after buying an additional 41,505 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its stake in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 222,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,101,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,124,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 1,562.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 65,741 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,213,000 after acquiring an additional 61,786 shares during the period. 69.12% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Marten Transport

In other news, Director Jerry M. Bauer acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $15.81 per share, for a total transaction of $158,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 156,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,473,379.64. This trade represents a 6.83 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Marten Transport Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MRTN opened at $15.60 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of 37.14 and a beta of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $16.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.28. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a twelve month low of $15.33 and a twelve month high of $21.38.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 17th. The transportation company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.07 by ($0.02). Marten Transport had a return on equity of 4.41% and a net margin of 3.36%. The business had revenue of $237.37 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $244.00 million. Analysts expect that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.06 per share. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRTN. Raymond James cut shares of Marten Transport from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com cut Marten Transport from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

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.