Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades AJ Bell (LON:AJB) to Hold

AJ Bell (LON:AJB) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a GBX 361 ($4.53) price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.44% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Berenberg Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a GBX 370 ($4.65) price objective on shares of AJ Bell in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of AJ Bell in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 390.25 ($4.90).

AJ Bell Stock Performance

Shares of AJB opened at GBX 336 ($4.22) on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of £1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,976.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.90. AJ Bell has a 52 week low of GBX 241.60 ($3.03) and a 52 week high of GBX 345.36 ($4.34). The stock has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 305.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of GBX 297.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.47, a quick ratio of 7.16 and a current ratio of 3.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AJ Bell news, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.87), for a total value of £83,982.36 ($105,492.22). In related news, insider Peter Birch sold 17,000 shares of AJ Bell stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 327 ($4.11), for a total value of £55,590 ($69,827.91). Also, insider Simon Turner sold 27,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 308 ($3.87), for a total transaction of £83,982.36 ($105,492.22). 33.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

AJ Bell Company Profile

AJ Bell plc, through its subsidiaries, operates investment platforms in the United Kingdom. The company offers AJ Bell Investcentre, which offers advisers and clients service, easy-to-use functionality, and a comprehensive investment range at competitive prices; and AJ Bell, an investment platform. It also provides Touch by AJ Bell, an investment platform which help advisers to streamline their businesses with investment solutions delivered and managed digitally on their clients' smartphones; and Dodl by AJ Bell, an investment app.