Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Trims Holdings in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL) by 57.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 629 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 852 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Jabil were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. acquired a new stake in Jabil during the third quarter worth $63,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Jabil during the fourth quarter worth $1,146,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its stake in Jabil by 15.3% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 29,305 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,719,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Jabil by 87.1% during the third quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 185,371 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,522,000 after acquiring an additional 86,285 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Jabil by 21.4% during the third quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 90,828 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,525,000 after acquiring an additional 16,038 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.39% of the company’s stock.

Jabil Stock Performance

JBL opened at $118.48 on Friday. Jabil Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.48 and a 1-year high of $156.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.86. The stock has a market cap of $14.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.40.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL) last posted its earnings results on Friday, March 15th. The technology company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Jabil Inc. will post 7.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other news, Director David M. Stout sold 31,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.12, for a total transaction of $3,853,656.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 67,300 shares in the company, valued at $8,285,976. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Mark T. Mondello sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.09, for a total transaction of $6,304,500.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,809,194 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $228,121,271.46. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David M. Stout sold 31,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.12, for a total transaction of $3,853,656.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 67,300 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,285,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 107,177 shares of company stock worth $13,678,039. Corporate insiders own 2.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on JBL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Jabil from $141.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Jabil from $151.00 to $149.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 18th. StockNews.com raised Jabil from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Argus cut Jabil from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.50.

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).