ING Groep NV Lowers Stock Holdings in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

ING Groep NV reduced its stake in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 877 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Jacobs Solutions were worth $2,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of J. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 134,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,644,000 after purchasing an additional 25,354 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 13,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 12,990.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 13,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,782,000 after buying an additional 13,510 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 9.7% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,016,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 20.8% in the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 12,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 2,142 shares in the last quarter. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on J. Benchmark downgraded Jacobs Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.89.

Jacobs Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of J stock opened at $129.12 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $134.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.95. The stock has a market cap of $15.82 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.72. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.95 and a 1 year high of $150.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.25.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Jacobs Solutions had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 4.28%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.32 dividend. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. This is a boost from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Jacobs Solutions’s payout ratio is 23.92%.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.