Parnassus Investments LLC Sells 5,523 Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL)

Parnassus Investments LLC lessened its stake in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 440,182 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 5,523 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $87,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 3,700.0% in the second quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 152 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Old Dominion Freight Line in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 1,630.0% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 173 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 73.1% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 187 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.82% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ODFL. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from $210.00 to $205.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Argus lowered Old Dominion Freight Line from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Old Dominion Freight Line from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $214.00 price target on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $200.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Greg C. Gantt sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.07, for a total value of $1,400,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 97,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,584,852.30. This trade represents a 6.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman David S. Congdon sold 29,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.30, for a total value of $6,033,967.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,401,621 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $282,146,307.30. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 49,975 shares of company stock valued at $10,062,478 in the last 90 days. 9.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Old Dominion Freight Line Price Performance

NASDAQ:ODFL opened at $213.99 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.51 and a beta of 0.99. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 52 week low of $165.49 and a 52 week high of $233.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $201.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.58.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by $0.01. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 21.03% and a return on equity of 29.40%. The firm had revenue of $1.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 4th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 4th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Old Dominion Freight Line’s payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

About Old Dominion Freight Line

Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc operates as a less-than-truckload motor carrier in the United States and North America. The company offers regional, inter-regional, and national less-than-truckload services, as well as expedited transportation. It also provides various value-added services, including container drayage, truckload brokerage, and supply chain consulting.