Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL - Free Report) by 94.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,171 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 1,538 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Jabil were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in JBL. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Jabil during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Jabil in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Jabil in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Jabil by 90.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 274 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Jabil by 113.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 297 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.39% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on JBL. Barclays increased their target price on Jabil from $184.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Jabil from $175.00 to $154.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Jabil from $152.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Jabil from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Jabil from $165.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.17.

Insider Activity at Jabil

In other Jabil news, CEO Michael Dastoor sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.90, for a total value of $1,699,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 221,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,665,640.70. This trade represents a 4.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Mark T. Mondello sold 20,000 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.56, for a total value of $2,631,200.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,730,192 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $227,624,059.52. This trade represents a 1.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 50,000 shares of company stock worth $7,665,200. Insiders own 1.73% of the company's stock.

Jabil Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:JBL traded down $3.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.77. The stock had a trading volume of 1,224,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,430,056. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.81. Jabil Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.85 and a 1 year high of $180.16. The business's 50 day moving average price is $154.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $150.46. The company has a market cap of $18.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.14.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The technology company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $6.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.40 billion. Jabil had a return on equity of 41.87% and a net margin of 4.71%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Jabil Inc. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.18%. Jabil's payout ratio is 7.66%.

Jabil Company 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).