AJ Bell (LON:AJB) Reaches New 12-Month High - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• AJ Bell's stock price reached a new 52-week high of GBX 560.50 ($7.49) during trading, marking an increase from its previous close of GBX 538.50 ($7.20).
• Research analysts have mixed ratings, with three giving a Buy rating, three a Hold rating, and one a Sell rating; the average target price is GBX 539.29.
• Insider trading activity included buying 85,000 shares by Michael Thomas Summersgill and selling 37,924 shares by Peter Birch, indicating continued interest from company insiders.

AJ Bell plc (LON:AJB - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as GBX 560.50 ($7.49) and last traded at GBX 560.21 ($7.49), with a volume of 326056 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 538.50 ($7.20).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on AJ Bell from GBX 420 to GBX 490 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Shore Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 550 price target on shares of AJ Bell in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on AJ Bell from GBX 440 to GBX 460 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a GBX 550 price target on shares of AJ Bell in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on AJ Bell from GBX 600 to GBX 625 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of GBX 539.29.

AJ Bell Trading Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.46, a current ratio of 3.63 and a quick ratio of 7.16. The company has a market cap of £2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of GBX 519.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 491.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Michael Thomas Summersgill bought 85,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 513 per share, with a total value of £436,050. Also, insider Peter Birch sold 37,924 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 543, for a total value of £205,927.32. Corporate insiders own 23.79% of the company's stock.

About AJ Bell

Established in 1995, AJ Bell is one of the largest investment platforms in the UK, operating at scale in both the advised and direct-to-consumer markets. Our purpose is to help people invest by providing them with easy access to Pensions, ISAs and General investment accounts, great customer service and competitive charges. Our two core platform propositions are AJ Bell in the D2C market and AJ Bell Investcentre in the advised market, which both provide access to a broad investment range including shares and other instruments traded on the major stock exchanges around the world, as well as all mainstream collective investments available in the UK and our own range of AJ Bell funds.

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