HighTower Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 15.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,954 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 6,411 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Jabil were worth $6,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Jabil by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 3,273 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $471,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its position in shares of Jabil by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,671 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $816,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Jabil by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,539 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Jabil by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC raised its stake in Jabil by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 5,332 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $767,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total transaction of $3,026,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,021,040.40. This represents a 14.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total transaction of $551,718.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 12,900 shares in the company, valued at $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:JBL opened at $135.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a PE ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.61. Jabil Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.85 and a 12 month high of $174.80.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $6.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.60 earnings per share. Jabil’s revenue was down 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s payout ratio is currently 3.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JBL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jabil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.83.

About Jabil

Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).