Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 25,456 Shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) by 7.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 322,476 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,456 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Jacobs Solutions were worth $43,089,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Jacobs Solutions by 44.3% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 1.9% in the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 4,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 958 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Jacobs Solutions by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 2,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. 85.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

J has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $152.00 price objective on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Benchmark cut shares of Jacobs Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.89.

Jacobs Solutions Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Jacobs Solutions stock opened at $134.54 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.95 and a 12-month high of $150.54. The company has a market capitalization of $16.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.74, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $136.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $140.88.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.04. Jacobs Solutions had a net margin of 4.28% and a return on equity of 14.87%. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. This is an increase from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Jacobs Solutions’s payout ratio is presently 23.92%.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, February 4th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jacobs Solutions Company 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.