Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,201 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Jabil were worth $461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of JBL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in Jabil during the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Jabil by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Jabil in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Jabil by 113.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Jabil Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:JBL opened at $145.02 on Monday. Jabil Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.85 and a 12-month high of $174.80. The company has a market cap of $15.83 billion, a PE ratio of 13.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $155.96 and a 200 day moving average of $138.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a net margin of 4.71% and a return on equity of 41.87%. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 18th. Jabil’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price target (up previously from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Jabil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.50.

Insider Activity

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

About Jabil

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).