Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,134 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 609 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $4,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 313,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,920,000 after purchasing an additional 8,283 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter valued at about $378,000. Versor Investments LP increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 53.7% in the third quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 18,900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 6,600 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter valued at about $2,311,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 0.5 %

KNX stock opened at $55.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 241.88, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $45.55 and a one year high of $60.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $52.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 278.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $51.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.38.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.