First Trust Advisors LP Sells 174,857 Shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL - Free Report) by 49.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 179,190 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 174,857 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.16% of Jabil worth $25,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its position in Jabil by 90.3% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. 93.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Jabil Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:JBL traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $146.79. The company had a trading volume of 626,814 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,461,552. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.85 and a 1-year high of $174.80. The firm has a market cap of $15.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $139.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $142.41.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.68 EPS. Jabil's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.22%. Jabil's payout ratio is presently 7.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Christopher S. Holland sold 3,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.27, for a total transaction of $551,718.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 12,900 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,093,283. This represents a 20.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark T. Mondello sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.56, for a total transaction of $2,631,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,730,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,624,059.52. This represents a 1.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on JBL. Barclays increased their target price on Jabil from $179.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Jabil from $175.00 to $154.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Jabil from $175.00 to $146.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Jabil from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.50.

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).