AJ Bell (LON:AJB) Shares Up 2.1%

AJ Bell plc (LON:AJB) shares traded up 2.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 389 ($4.92) and last traded at GBX 389 ($4.92). 1,196,985 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 88% from the average session volume of 638,356 shares. The stock had previously closed at GBX 381 ($4.82).

Analyst Ratings Changes

AJB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 370 ($4.68) target price on shares of AJ Bell in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AJ Bell in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of AJ Bell to a “hold” rating and set a GBX 361 ($4.57) price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 3rd.

AJ Bell Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.44, a quick ratio of 7.16 and a current ratio of 3.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 367.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 328.20. The firm has a market capitalization of £1.60 billion, a PE ratio of 1,945.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.88.

AJ Bell Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 6th were given a dividend of GBX 4.25 ($0.05) per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 6th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.17%. AJ Bell’s payout ratio is 6,000.00%.

Insider Activity

In other AJ Bell news, insider Peter Birch sold 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 387 ($4.90), for a total transaction of £25,155 ($31,817.61). In related news, insider Peter Birch sold 6,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 387 ($4.90), for a total transaction of £25,155 ($31,817.61). Also, insider Michael Thomas Summersgill sold 119,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 393 ($4.97), for a total transaction of £467,670 ($591,538.07). Corporate insiders own 30.58% of the company’s stock.

About AJ Bell

AJ Bell plc, through its subsidiaries, operates investment platforms in the United Kingdom. The company offers AJ Bell Investcentre, which offers advisers and clients service, easy-to-use functionality, and a comprehensive investment range at competitive prices; and AJ Bell, an investment platform. It also provides Touch by AJ Bell, an investment platform which help advisers to streamline their businesses with investment solutions delivered and managed digitally on their clients' smartphones; and Dodl by AJ Bell, an investment app.