State of Michigan Retirement System Has $2.54 Million Stake in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its holdings in Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,736 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $2,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in Globe Life by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its holdings in Globe Life by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 4,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Globe Life by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Globe Life by 18.8% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 784 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Globe Life by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.61% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Jennifer Allison Haworth sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.91, for a total transaction of $1,016,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 13,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,522,591.35. This trade represents a 40.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Frank M. Svoboda sold 11,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.31, for a total value of $1,345,410.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,317,529.88. This represents a 36.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 61,338 shares of company stock worth $7,239,630 in the last 90 days. 1.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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 raised their price objective on Globe Life from $137.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Globe Life from $126.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Globe Life from $107.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Globe Life in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $114.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.60.

Globe Life Price Performance

Globe Life stock opened at $125.55 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.05 and a quick ratio of 0.05. The company has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 0.77. Globe Life Inc. has a one year low of $38.95 and a one year high of $131.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.09.

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

Globe Life Increases Dividend

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

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.