Insider Selling: Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) COO Sells 4,500 Shares of Stock

Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) COO Adam Daniel Phillips sold 4,500 shares of Marten Transport stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.34, for a total transaction of $82,530.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,448 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $136,596.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Marten Transport Stock Up 5.1 %

Marten Transport stock traded up $0.89 during trading on Thursday, reaching $18.22. The stock had a trading volume of 554,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 454,517. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52-week low of $15.33 and a 52-week high of $23.38. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a PE ratio of 24.41 and a beta of 0.77.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The transportation company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $246.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.11 million. Marten Transport had a return on equity of 5.74% and a net margin of 4.17%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.06 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Marten Transport’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRTN shares. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Marten Transport from $23.00 to $21.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 19th. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Marten Transport in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price target for the company. Finally, Vertical Research downgraded shares of Marten Transport from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $19.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $20.00.

Institutional Trading of Marten Transport

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRTN. Nuance Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Marten Transport during the 1st quarter worth approximately $24,122,000. Empirical Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 4th quarter valued at $9,997,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,406,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $29,506,000 after acquiring an additional 451,340 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Marten Transport in the 1st quarter valued at $2,988,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,338,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $91,023,000 after acquiring an additional 132,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% 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.