Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $395.79 and last traded at $388.3610, with a volume of 28,981 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $390.33.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from $415.00 to $385.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Jones Lang LaSalle from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Jones Lang LaSalle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $427.60.

Jones Lang LaSalle Stock Down 1.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $330.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $325.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.43, a quick ratio of 2.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The financial services provider reported $6.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.15 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $7.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. Jones Lang LaSalle had a return on equity of 15.05% and a net margin of 3.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated will post 25.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christian Ulbrich sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.53, for a total value of $771,060.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 138,418 shares in the company, valued at $53,364,291.54. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $2,271,060 in the last quarter. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Jones Lang LaSalle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of JLL. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Jones Lang LaSalle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,446,414,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Jones Lang LaSalle by 279.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 429,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $130,683,000 after purchasing an additional 316,299 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Jones Lang LaSalle during the 2nd quarter worth $87,669,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in the 2nd quarter worth about $83,791,000. Finally, Equity Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in the second quarter worth $81,056,000. 94.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, doing business as JLL, is a global commercial real estate services and investment management company. It serves property owners, occupiers, investors and developers across a broad range of real estate sectors, including office, industrial, retail, residential, hospitality and specialized properties.

JLL’s services include leasing, capital markets and investment sales, property and facilities management, project and development management, valuation and advisory services, workplace strategy, sustainability consulting and real estate technology solutions.