Arizona State Retirement System Cuts Stake in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

Arizona State Retirement System cut its holdings in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,068 shares of the company’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $2,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,545,272 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,480,000 after purchasing an additional 115,432 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Globe Life by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,618,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,994,000 after buying an additional 89,299 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Globe Life by 22.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,519,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,949,000 after buying an additional 277,108 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in Globe Life by 155.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 1,138,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $120,629,000 after acquiring an additional 693,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Globe Life by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 1,008,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,835,000 after acquiring an additional 78,354 shares during the period. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Globe Life from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Globe Life in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Globe Life from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Globe Life from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $132.00 to $143.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.60.

Globe Life Stock Performance

Shares of Globe Life stock opened at $125.55 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $119.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Globe Life Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.95 and a 52 week high of $131.39.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.12 by $0.02. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.53% and a return on equity of 22.32%. Sell-side analysts expect that Globe Life Inc. will post 13.87 EPS for the current year.

Globe Life Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, April 3rd will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Globe Life’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 3rd. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Globe Life news, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 13,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.56, for a total transaction of $1,513,706.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,132,786.88. This trade represents a 41.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO James Matthew Darden sold 24,890 shares of Globe Life stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.52, for a total transaction of $3,024,632.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 38,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,735,998.96. The trade was a 38.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 61,338 shares of company stock valued at $7,239,630. 1.51% of the stock is owned by company 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.