Prospector Partners LLC Buys 480 Shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

Prospector Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 213,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Globe Life makes up approximately 2.6% of Prospector Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Prospector Partners LLC’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $23,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Globe Life in the 4th quarter worth about $61,238,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Globe Life by 3.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,545,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,480,000 after buying an additional 115,432 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Globe Life by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 105,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,154,000 after purchasing an additional 8,663 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Globe Life during the fourth quarter worth $487,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 82,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,069,000 after purchasing an additional 27,590 shares during the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on GL shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Globe Life from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI upgraded Globe Life from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Globe Life from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.31, for a total value of $1,345,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 18,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,317,529.88. This trade represents a 36.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Matthew Darden sold 24,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.52, for a total transaction of $3,024,632.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 38,973 shares in the company, valued at $4,735,998.96. The trade was a 38.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,338 shares of company stock worth $7,239,630 over the last three months. 1.51% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Globe Life Trading Down 8.0 %

Shares of NYSE GL opened at $117.30 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a current ratio of 0.05. The company has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.82 and a beta of 0.60. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.76. Globe Life Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.95 and a fifty-two week high of $133.76.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by $0.02. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 22.32%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This is a boost from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.04%.

About Globe Life

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.