Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Purchases New Position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,530 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $652,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Jabil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Jabil during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $39,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Jabil by 90.3% during the 4th 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. purchased a new stake in Jabil during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Jabil by 113.7% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Trading Up 3.0 %

JBL opened at $143.69 on Friday. Jabil Inc. has a one year low of $95.85 and a one year high of $174.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $156.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 18th were issued a $0.08 dividend. 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 is presently 3.07%.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In related news, EVP Frederic E. Mccoy sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.81, for a total value of $599,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 138,472 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,744,490.32. This represents a 2.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John C. Plant sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.55, for a total value of $8,627,500.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,400 shares of company stock worth $12,804,458. Insiders own 1.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

JBL has been the subject of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective (up from $150.00) on shares of Jabil in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Jabil from $157.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on Jabil from $128.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Jabil from $160.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.83.

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).