Metis Global Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,781 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Jabil were worth $544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBL. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Jabil by 4.9% during the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Jabil by 4.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,992 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after buying an additional 664 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Jabil by 31.3% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,081 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Jabil by 6.0% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,589 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Jabil during the third quarter worth about $70,000. 93.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on JBL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.83.

Jabil Stock Performance

Jabil stock opened at $143.13 on Thursday. 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 $15.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $158.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $135.67.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The technology company reported $2.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.12. Jabil had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The firm had revenue of $6.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.60 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

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 yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jabil news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,018,045. This trade represents a 89.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 stock was sold at an average price of $151.30, for a total transaction of $3,026,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 119,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,021,040.40. This 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 valued at $12,804,458 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

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).