Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,904,988 Shares of Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J)

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Jacobs Solutions Inc. (NYSE:J - Free Report) by 933.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,109,035 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,904,988 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 1.72% of Jacobs Solutions worth $281,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in J. Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its position in Jacobs Solutions by 55.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 14,912 shares of the company's stock worth $1,993,000 after buying an additional 5,332 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Jacobs Solutions by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 9,767 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Jacobs Solutions by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Occidental Asset Management LLC now owns 25,045 shares of the company's stock worth $3,347,000 after buying an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its stake in shares of Jacobs Solutions by 956.8% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 264,824 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,386,000 after buying an additional 239,764 shares during the period. Finally, Keene & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Jacobs Solutions during the 4th quarter valued at $2,973,000. 85.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on J shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $161.00 to $151.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Jacobs Solutions from $152.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $152.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Jacobs Solutions from $154.00 to $148.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Jacobs Solutions from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $150.86.

Jacobs Solutions Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE J traded up $2.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $128.74. 862,012 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 803,340. Jacobs Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $106.23 and a fifty-two week high of $156.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The firm has a market cap of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.77. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $120.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $130.59.

Jacobs Solutions (NYSE:J - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.02. Jacobs Solutions had a return on equity of 14.87% and a net margin of 4.28%. The company had revenue of $2.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. Jacobs Solutions's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Jacobs Solutions Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Jacobs Solutions Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 23rd will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 23rd. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Jacobs Solutions's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Jacobs Solutions declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, February 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Jacobs Solutions Company Profile

Jacobs Solutions Inc provides consulting, technical, engineering, scientific, and project delivery services for the government and private sectors in the United States, Europe, Canada, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through Critical Mission Solutions, People & Places Solutions, Divergent Solutions, and PA Consulting segments.