Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL) Short Interest Up 20.9% in April

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 633,100 shares, an increase of 20.9% from the March 31st total of 523,600 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 386,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,639,526 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $415,030,000 after purchasing an additional 88,479 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 944,623 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $239,122,000 after buying an additional 8,274 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 934,958 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $240,190,000 after buying an additional 41,331 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Jones Lang LaSalle during the 4th quarter valued at $149,468,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 542,675 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $137,373,000 after purchasing an additional 65,407 shares during the last quarter. 94.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

JLL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Jones Lang LaSalle from $340.00 to $305.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from $327.00 to $285.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Jones Lang LaSalle from $325.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James upped their price target on Jones Lang LaSalle from $317.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $315.83.

Jones Lang LaSalle Price Performance

NYSE JLL traded down $0.26 on Thursday, reaching $227.91. The company had a trading volume of 492,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 321,642. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $234.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $256.04. Jones Lang LaSalle has a 12 month low of $191.84 and a 12 month high of $288.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $5.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.65 billion. Jones Lang LaSalle had a return on equity of 10.20% and a net margin of 2.33%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Jones Lang LaSalle will post 16.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated operates as a commercial real estate and investment management company. It engages in the buying, building, occupying, managing, and investing in a commercial, industrial, hotel, residential, and retail properties in Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific.