Jack In The Box Inc. $JACK Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Jack In The Box Inc. (NASDAQ:JACK) by 57.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 55,288 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 75,063 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Jack In The Box were worth $1,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of JACK. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Jack In The Box by 90.2% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 33,971 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $672,000 after purchasing an additional 16,111 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Jack In The Box during the third quarter worth $42,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Jack In The Box during the third quarter worth about $111,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Jack In The Box in the third quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Jack In The Box by 165.5% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 99.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on JACK shares. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Jack In The Box from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Jack In The Box from $19.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $20.00 price target on Jack In The Box in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Jack In The Box in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Jack In The Box from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Jack In The Box presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Lance F. Tucker sold 3,150 shares of Jack In The Box stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.83, for a total transaction of $68,764.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 204,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,454,804.44. This trade represents a 1.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Richard D. Cook sold 1,787 shares of Jack In The Box stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.08, for a total transaction of $34,095.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 27,193 shares in the company, valued at $518,842.44. This represents a 6.17% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,462 shares of company stock worth $247,352. 1.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Jack In The Box Stock Up 3.1%

NASDAQ:JACK opened at $22.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $420.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.15, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.14. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $20.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.15. Jack In The Box Inc. has a 52 week low of $13.99 and a 52 week high of $41.09.

Jack In The Box (NASDAQ:JACK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The restaurant operator reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $349.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $355.73 million. Jack In The Box had a negative return on equity of 9.23% and a negative net margin of 5.51%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.86 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Jack In The Box Inc. will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

About Jack In The Box

Jack in the Box (NASDAQ: JACK) is a publicly traded quick-service restaurant company best known for its Jack in the Box brand of fast-food restaurants. Founded in 1951 by Robert O. Peterson and headquartered in San Diego, California, the company has operated for decades as a franchisor and operator of drive-thru and dine-in restaurants. Its business model combines company-owned locations with franchise arrangements, and the company focuses on building brand recognition through menu innovation, marketing and service convenience.

The company’s core offerings center on a broad fast-food menu that includes hamburgers (notably the Jumbo Jack), tacos, breakfast items, sandwiches, salads, sides and specialty limited-time items.