Magnetar Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 120.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,979 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,266 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Jabil were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of Jabil by 55.7% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 278,651 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,098,000 after acquiring an additional 99,642 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $652,000. Vinva Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Jabil by 174.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 45,748 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,577,000 after buying an additional 29,075 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Jabil by 558.4% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 34,929 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,026,000 after buying an additional 29,624 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Jabil by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 6,535 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $940,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jabil Price Performance

Jabil stock opened at $145.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. Jabil Inc. has a one year low of $95.85 and a one year high of $174.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $155.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Jabil Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were paid 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 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In related news, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 5,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,018,045. This trade represents a 89.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total value of $599,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 138,472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,744,490.32. This trade represents a 2.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 77,400 shares of company stock valued at $12,804,458. Company insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on JBL. UBS Group raised their target price on Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Jabil from $172.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Jabil currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.50.

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).