Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) Position Reduced by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its position in shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL - Free Report) by 14.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,260,365 shares of the company's stock after selling 210,984 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 1.50% of Globe Life worth $140,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Globe Life in the third quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Globe Life by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 5,100 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Globe Life by 74.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,441 shares of the company's stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Globe Life by 85.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 19,779 shares of the company's stock worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 9,141 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 10,429 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.61% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GL. Evercore ISI raised shares of Globe Life from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $143.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Globe Life in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Globe Life from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Globe Life from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 $135.60.

Globe Life Price Performance

Shares of GL traded down $3.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $124.85. 539,838 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 600,082. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of 10.45 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $118.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.69. Globe Life Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $38.95 and a fifty-two week high of $131.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.12 by $0.02. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 22.32%. As a group, research analysts predict that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Globe Life's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 3rd. Globe Life's payout ratio is presently 9.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Globe Life

In other news, CMO Jennifer Allison Haworth sold 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.91, for a total transaction of $1,016,190.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 13,485 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,522,591.35. This represents a 40.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 13,448 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.56, for a total transaction of $1,513,706.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 18,948 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,132,786.88. The trade was a 41.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 61,338 shares of company stock worth $7,239,630. Insiders own 1.51% of the company's stock.

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.