Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New $981,000 Investment in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,700 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Jabil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Jabil in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. bought a new position in Jabil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC bought a new position in Jabil in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Jabil by 745.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 406 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 358 shares during the last quarter. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on JBL. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Jabil from $141.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus downgraded Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Jabil from $151.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $144.50.

Jabil Stock Performance

NYSE:JBL opened at $120.24 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $136.83 and its 200 day moving average is $130.95. Jabil Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.48 and a fifty-two week high of $156.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.50 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The technology company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.55 by ($0.01). Jabil had a net margin of 4.70% and a return on equity of 39.47%. The company had revenue of $6.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jabil Inc. will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 15th will be paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. Jabil’s payout ratio is 2.75%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Jabil news, CEO Kenneth S. Wilson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total value of $2,013,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 339,725 shares in the company, valued at $45,591,095. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Jabil news, CEO Kenneth S. Wilson sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.20, for a total value of $2,013,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 339,725 shares in the company, valued at $45,591,095. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP May Yee Yap sold 7,877 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.65, for a total value of $1,100,023.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 29,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,050,687.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 107,177 shares of company stock worth $13,678,039 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

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).