Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY)

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 211,000 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 55,350 shares during the quarter. Jack Henry & Associates accounts for 1.3% of Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Jack Henry & Associates were worth $36,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,567 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $277,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Jack Henry & Associates by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,256 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Jack Henry & Associates by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 4,969 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $877,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 9,601 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,695,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel raised its holdings in Jack Henry & Associates by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 3,650 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $640,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.75% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Jack Henry & Associates from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Jack Henry & Associates from $181.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Jack Henry & Associates from $180.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair downgraded shares of Jack Henry & Associates from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Jack Henry & Associates in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.80.

Insider Activity at Jack Henry & Associates

In other news, insider David B. Foss sold 18,770 shares of Jack Henry & Associates stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $171.32, for a total transaction of $3,215,676.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 138,665 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,756,087.80. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Jack Henry & Associates Stock Performance

NASDAQ:JKHY opened at $170.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 3.11. Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $157.00 and a fifty-two week high of $189.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.92. The firm has a market cap of $12.47 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.61.

Jack Henry & Associates (NASDAQ:JKHY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.03). Jack Henry & Associates had a net margin of 17.83% and a return on equity of 21.55%. Equities research analysts predict that Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Jack Henry & Associates Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from Jack Henry & Associates’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Jack Henry & Associates’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

About Jack Henry & Associates

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc is a financial technology company, which engages in the provision of technology solutions and payment processing services. It operates through the following segments: Core, Payments, Complementary, and Corporate and Other. The Core segment provides core information processing platforms to banks and credit unions which consist of integrated applications required to process deposit, loan, and general ledger transactions, and maintain centralized customer and member information.