First Trust Advisors LP Sells 327,491 Shares of Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. $ODFL

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its position in Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. (NASDAQ:ODFL) by 29.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 770,853 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 327,491 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Old Dominion Freight Line were worth $150,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,223,960 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,230,318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,511 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Old Dominion Freight Line by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,746,286 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,214,618,000 after buying an additional 70,736 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 98.4% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,122,696 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $648,186,000 after buying an additional 2,044,434 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,680,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $577,137,000 after buying an additional 365,424 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Old Dominion Freight Line by 23.9% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,314,157 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $519,660,000 after acquiring an additional 639,769 shares in the last quarter. 77.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Old Dominion Freight Line Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ ODFL opened at $230.71 on Friday. Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. has a 52 week low of $126.01 and a 52 week high of $252.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $224.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $204.57. The company has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.27, a P/E/G ratio of 4.20 and a beta of 1.18.

Old Dominion Freight Line (NASDAQ:ODFL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.09. Old Dominion Freight Line had a net margin of 18.46% and a return on equity of 23.42%. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. will post 5.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Old Dominion Freight Line Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 2nd will be given a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 2nd. Old Dominion Freight Line’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ODFL has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore raised shares of Old Dominion Freight Line from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective (up from $209.00) on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $256.00 price target on Old Dominion Freight Line and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Old Dominion Freight Line in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg C. Gantt sold 22,107 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.52, for a total transaction of $4,233,932.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 88,551 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,959,287.52. This trade represents a 19.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Old Dominion Freight Line Company Profile

Old Dominion Freight Line is a U.S.-based less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation company that provides regional, inter-regional and national freight services. Founded in 1934 and headquartered in Thomasville, North Carolina, the company has grown from a regional carrier into a national freight network, operating a broad system of service centers and terminals to move shipments for shippers of varying sizes and industries.

The company’s core business is LTL trucking, offering scheduled pickup and delivery for palletized freight that does not require a full truckload.