Wall Street Zen Downgrades Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) to Buy

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on JLL. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle from $317.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on Jones Lang LaSalle from $340.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Jones Lang LaSalle from $361.00 to $407.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 26th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in a research report on Tuesday, December 2nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $351.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Jones Lang LaSalle in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jones Lang LaSalle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $342.14.

Jones Lang LaSalle Stock Performance

Jones Lang LaSalle stock opened at $335.65 on Friday. Jones Lang LaSalle has a 52 week low of $194.36 and a 52 week high of $347.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $320.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74 and a beta of 1.42.

Jones Lang LaSalle (NYSE:JLL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The financial services provider reported $4.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.24 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.49 billion. Jones Lang LaSalle had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 11.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.50 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Jones Lang LaSalle will post 16.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Jones Lang LaSalle

In other Jones Lang LaSalle news, CEO Christian Ulbrich sold 96 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.18, for a total value of $31,889.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 114,685 shares in the company, valued at $38,096,063.30. This represents a 0.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $6,609,091. 0.91% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Jones Lang LaSalle in the 2nd quarter worth about $160,187,000. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 115.0% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 938,149 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $239,960,000 after buying an additional 501,716 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Jones Lang LaSalle by 21.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,221,528 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $568,222,000 after purchasing an additional 386,184 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in Jones Lang LaSalle by 50.7% during the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,062,069 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $263,298,000 after buying an additional 357,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Jones Lang LaSalle by 4,285.3% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 350,821 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,643,000 after purchasing an additional 342,821 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.80% of the company’s stock.

About Jones Lang LaSalle

Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm specializing in real estate and investment management. The company provides a broad range of services including leasing, advisory, property and asset management, capital markets, project and development services, and valuation. Through its integrated platform, JLL serves corporate occupiers, institutional investors, real estate owners and developers, offering tailored solutions that span the entire real estate lifecycle.

Founded in 1783 in London as Jones Lang Wootton, the firm established a reputation for expertise in property management and brokerage.