New York Life Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

New York Life Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,763 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,409 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $889,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter valued at approximately $70,185,000. Nuance Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 74.5% in the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 929,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,124,000 after acquiring an additional 396,607 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.1% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,412,869 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,224,000 after acquiring an additional 359,566 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,256,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 933,359 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $49,505,000 after acquiring an additional 280,121 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on KNX. Bank of America upped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.6 %

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $49.14 on Tuesday. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.32 and a beta of 0.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is 98.63%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Profile

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.