California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Stake in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 244,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,491 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.20% of Jacobs Solutions worth $32,703,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of J. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions in the fourth quarter worth $476,000. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 11,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 39,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,233,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jacobs Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $7,777,000. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 55,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,509 shares during the last quarter. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jacobs Solutions Price Performance

Shares of Jacobs Solutions stock opened at $124.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $118.67 and a one year high of $156.31. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $135.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.77.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.92 billion. Jacobs Solutions had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Jacobs Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.39%.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, February 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on J shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $153.86.

Jacobs Solutions 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.