Freedom Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stake in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 139.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 12,331 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,180 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Jabil were worth $1,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Jabil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Jabil during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Jabil by 90.3% in the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Jabil in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on JBL. StockNews.com raised shares of Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Jabil from $175.00 to $146.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Jabil from $175.00 to $154.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Chairman Mark T. Mondello sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.56, for a total value of $2,631,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,730,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $227,624,059.52. This trade represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total value of $551,718.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 73,400 shares of company stock worth $11,810,418 over the last 90 days. 1.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Jabil Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:JBL opened at $134.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12. Jabil Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.85 and a 12-month high of $174.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $143.60 and a 200 day moving average of $141.28. 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 (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.66%.

Jabil Company 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).