Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys Shares of 2,718 Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Marten Transport, Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRTN) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,718 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in Marten Transport by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 154,916 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,418,000 after buying an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 24,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Marten Transport by 5.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $521,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Marten Transport by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 18,760 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 1,916 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Marten Transport by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 33,447 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 69.12% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Marten Transport Stock Up 0.6 %

Marten Transport stock opened at $13.80 on Wednesday. Marten Transport, Ltd. has a 52 week low of $13.45 and a 52 week high of $19.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $14.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $15.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59 and a beta of 0.84.

Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 27th. The transportation company reported $0.07 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Marten Transport, Ltd. will post 0.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Marten Transport Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.06 dividend. This represents a $0.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Marten Transport’s payout ratio is 70.59%.

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.