Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 103,226 Shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Globe Life Inc. (NYSE:GL) by 41.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 352,221 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 103,226 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Globe Life were worth $40,987,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Globe Life during the 4th quarter valued at about $123,682,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Globe Life by 10,526.9% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 998,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,061,000 after purchasing an additional 989,319 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Globe Life by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,255,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,309,755,000 after purchasing an additional 425,993 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 1,367.8% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 362,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,128,000 after acquiring an additional 337,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Globe Life by 169.4% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 484,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,032,000 after acquiring an additional 304,942 shares during the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GL. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Globe Life from $83.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Globe Life from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Globe Life from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $130.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Globe Life from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Globe Life from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.44.

Insider Activity at Globe Life

In other news, CEO James Matthew Darden acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $84.82 per share, for a total transaction of $169,640.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 37,973 shares in the company, valued at $3,220,869.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mary E. Thigpen purchased 3,000 shares of Globe Life stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average price of $90.20 per share, for a total transaction of $270,600.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,571. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Matthew Darden purchased 2,000 shares of Globe Life stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $84.82 per share, with a total value of $169,640.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 37,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,220,869.86. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 8,000 shares of company stock worth $687,880. 1.51% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Globe Life Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of GL traded up $1.61 on Friday, reaching $90.69. 998,446 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 911,533. The company has a current ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 0.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.66 and a beta of 0.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.27. Globe Life Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.95 and a 12 month high of $132.00.

Globe Life (NYSE:GL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.45 billion. Globe Life had a net margin of 18.47% and a return on equity of 22.53%. Globe Life’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.61 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Globe Life Inc. will post 11.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Globe Life Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 1st. Investors of record on Friday, July 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 5th. Globe Life’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.17%.

About Globe Life

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.