HighTower Advisors LLC Increases Position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jabil by 12,251.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,206,384 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $264,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,188,521 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Jabil by 406.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 722,800 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $86,613,000 after purchasing an additional 580,100 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Jabil by 11.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,116,308 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $613,087,000 after purchasing an additional 520,672 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth about $43,312,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Jabil by 595.5% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 343,137 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $41,118,000 after buying an additional 293,801 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:JBL opened at $135.54 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Jabil Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.85 and a 12 month high of $174.80. The company has a market capitalization of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $156.64 and its 200 day moving average is $137.61.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,021,040.40. This trade represents a 14.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total value of $599,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 138,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,744,490.32. The trade was a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 77,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,804,458. 1.73% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).