Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Sells 1,545 Shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC cut its stake in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 56,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,545 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Jacobs Solutions were worth $7,554,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 14,912 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,993,000 after purchasing an additional 5,332 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 9,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 433,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,778,000 after purchasing an additional 47,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Jacobs Solutions during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,205,000. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Benchmark cut shares of Jacobs Solutions from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.89.

Jacobs Solutions Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of J opened at $128.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $134.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.95 and a 1 year high of $150.54.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.29 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.92 billion. Jacobs Solutions had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 4.28%. Jacobs Solutions’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jacobs Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from Jacobs Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Jacobs Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.39%.

Jacobs Solutions announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, February 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.