Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Position in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 549,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,238,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Globe Life by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its stake in Globe Life by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Globe Life by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Globe Life by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Globe Life by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Globe Life Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of GL opened at $122.51 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.64. Globe Life Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.95 and a 1 year high of $131.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.25 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.12 by $0.02. Globe Life had a return on equity of 22.32% and a net margin of 18.53%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a positive change from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.04%.

Insider Activity at Globe Life

In other Globe Life news, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 13,448 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.56, for a total value of $1,513,706.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 18,948 shares in the company, valued at $2,132,786.88. This trade represents a 41.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Blinn sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.23, for a total value of $339,690.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $579,964.06. The trade was a 36.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 61,338 shares of company stock worth $7,239,630. Company insiders own 1.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Globe Life from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Globe Life in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Globe Life from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Globe Life from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.60.

Globe Life Profile

Globe Life Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides various life and supplemental health insurance products, and annuities to lower middle- and middle-income families in the United States. The company operates in four segments: Life Insurance, Supplemental Health Insurance, Annuities, and Investments.