Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE:JLL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $338.00 to $378.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Jones Lang LaSalle traded as high as $291.00 and last traded at $290.94, with a volume of 254513 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $283.88.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from $280.00 to $297.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Citizens Jmp started coverage on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from $275.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, JMP Securities started coverage on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in a report on Monday, July 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Jones Lang LaSalle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $316.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Andrew W. Poppink sold 275 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.97, for a total value of $65,441.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 10,297 shares in the company, valued at $2,450,377.09. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.91% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Jones Lang LaSalle

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 1,835,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $455,000,000 after purchasing an additional 195,818 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 50.7% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,062,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $263,298,000 after purchasing an additional 357,469 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 1.8% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 961,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,479,000 after purchasing an additional 17,336 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 115.0% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 938,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $239,960,000 after purchasing an additional 501,716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in the second quarter worth $160,187,000. 94.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Jones Lang LaSalle Trading Up 4.6%

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $256.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.06 billion, a PE ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 1.38.

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.20 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $6.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. Jones Lang LaSalle had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 10.63%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.55 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated will post 16.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Jones Lang LaSalle Company Profile

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.