Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 71,165 Shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its position in Globe Life Inc. by 67.2%, leaving it with 34,801 shares valued at approximately $4.58 million after selling 71,165 shares in the first quarter.
• Recent trading activity includes significant insider selling, with the CEO and an executive vice president selling over 43,000 shares combined, indicating a decrease in their ownership stakes in the company.
• Globe Life reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.27 for the last quarter, slightly surpassing analyst forecasts, while its revenue increased by 2.9% compared to the previous year.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL - Free Report) by 67.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,801 shares of the company's stock after selling 71,165 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Globe Life were worth $4,584,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GL. Vestcor Inc lifted its position in shares of Globe Life by 9.0% in the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 4,760 shares of the company's stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its position in shares of Globe Life by 270.4% in the first quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,344 shares of the company's stock worth $2,021,000 after purchasing an additional 11,202 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Globe Life in the first quarter worth $227,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Globe Life by 5.9% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 33,888 shares of the company's stock worth $4,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Globe Life by 6.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 310,535 shares of the company's stock worth $40,904,000 after purchasing an additional 19,301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial initiated coverage on shares of Globe Life in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Globe Life from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Globe Life from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $135.00 to $166.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Globe Life from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Cfra Research raised shares of Globe Life to a "moderate buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Globe Life currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $152.00.

Globe Life Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GL traded up $0.14 on Friday, hitting $140.64. The company had a trading volume of 701,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 754,221. The company has a current ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $125.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.68. Globe Life Inc. has a 1-year low of $91.16 and a 1-year high of $144.00. The stock has a market cap of $11.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 0.56.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The company reported $3.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.50 billion. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.11% and a return on equity of 21.24%. Globe Life's revenue was up 2.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Globe Life Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Globe Life's payout ratio is presently 8.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Michael Clay Majors sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.41, for a total value of $1,374,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,066 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,467,339.06. This represents a 17.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.38, for a total transaction of $1,767,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 32,747 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,629,770.86. This trade represents a 27.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 90,741 shares of company stock valued at $12,471,180 over the last quarter. 1.51% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Globe Life Profile

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.