R Squared Ltd Acquires New Position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 560 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Jabil by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,589 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $195,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Jabil by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $387,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Jabil by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,618 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Jabil by 3.5% in the third quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,139 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in shares of Jabil by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 466 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Price Performance

JBL stock opened at $162.36 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.87. Jabil Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.85 and a 52 week high of $174.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.23.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 last year, the business posted $2.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.20%. Jabil’s payout ratio is presently 3.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on JBL shares. StockNews.com downgraded Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jabil has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.17.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total transaction of $8,627,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This trade represents a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at $20,744,490.32. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 74,000 shares of company stock worth $12,252,740 over the last three months. 1.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Jabil Profile

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).