Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Trading 8.4% Higher – Here’s Why

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)’s share price shot up 8.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $144.11 and last traded at $144.5190. 1,447,196 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 5,238,475 shares. The stock had previously closed at $133.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLEX has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Flex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.70.

Flex Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average is $140.54 and its 200-day moving average is $92.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.56 billion, a PE ratio of 61.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.64.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter. Flex had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Flex Ltd. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Flex

In other Flex news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 22,627 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.48, for a total transaction of $3,269,148.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 253,199 shares in the company, valued at $36,582,191.52. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP David Scott Offer sold 33,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.91, for a total value of $5,079,030.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 73,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,307,921.61. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Flex by 196.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,746,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,341,053,000 after purchasing an additional 25,662,586 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Flex by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,055,533 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $849,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,440 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Flex by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,605,802 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $459,829,000 after buying an additional 181,266 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Flex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $319,756,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in Flex by 141.8% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,693,141 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $223,140,000 after buying an additional 2,165,780 shares in the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Flex

Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), formerly known as Flextronics, is a global provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM). The company offers end-to-end product lifecycle solutions including product design and engineering, prototyping, volume manufacturing, testing, and aftermarket services. Its offerings extend into supply chain management, component sourcing, logistics and distribution, and advanced manufacturing capabilities such as automation and digital manufacturing to support customers from concept through end-of-life.

Flex serves a broad range of industries, including automotive, healthcare, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics, working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology companies to accelerate time to market and manage complex supply chains.