Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 12.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,520 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 8,413 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Jabil were worth $8,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Jabil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jabil by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in Jabil by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Jabil during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This represents a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Steven A. Raymund sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.50.

Jabil Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of JBL opened at $135.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $154.45 and its 200 day moving average is $139.59. 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 $14.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.66%.

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).