Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stake in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 1,327.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,680 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,091 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Jabil were worth $3,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Meyer Handelman Co. purchased a new position in Jabil during the fourth quarter worth about $7,334,000. Davis Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jabil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,433,000. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. boosted its position in shares of Jabil by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 39,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,733,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Jabil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. raised its position in Jabil by 8.7% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 52,173 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,252,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the period. 93.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other Jabil news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,045. This represents a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total value of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,804,458 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Stock Performance

NYSE:JBL opened at $169.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Jabil Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $95.85 and a fifty-two week high of $174.80. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.03. The stock has a market cap of $18.45 billion, a PE ratio of 16.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.23.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.19%. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on JBL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Jabil from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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 reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $153.17.

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).