Bank of Nova Scotia Trims Stake in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its position in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 97.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 22,018 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 827,502 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Flex were worth $1,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Flex by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 457 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Flex during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Flex in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Flex by 6,318.2% during the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 706 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of Flex by 58.1% during the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on FLEX shares. Freedom Capital raised Flex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research cut Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price target on Flex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 8,981 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.19, for a total transaction of $1,303,951.39. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 248,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,086,393.74. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Revathi Advaithi sold 39,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.18, for a total transaction of $5,689,313.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 584,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,825,480.04. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Flex Trading Down 9.1%

NASDAQ:FLEX opened at $103.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $37.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.21, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.27. Flex Ltd. has a 52 week low of $47.83 and a 52 week high of $166.86.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.53 billion. Flex had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Flex has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 1.000-1.070 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 4.420-4.740 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Flex Ltd. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Flex

Here are the key news stories impacting Flex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flex reported fiscal Q1 2027 adjusted earnings of $1.00 per share, above the roughly $0.90-$0.93 analyst consensus, while revenue reached $7.93 billion versus expectations near $7.53 billion. Revenue increased 20.6% year over year, and adjusted operating margin reached 6.7%. Flex fiscal Q1 results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised fiscal 2027 revenue guidance to $33.7 billion-$35.2 billion, above the $33.3 billion consensus, and set second-quarter revenue guidance of $8.0 billion-$8.3 billion versus expectations of $7.8 billion. Q2 EPS guidance of $1.00-$1.07 also exceeds the $0.98 consensus. Flex earnings beat and guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Growth accelerated in Cloud and Power Infrastructure, supporting the planned separation of that business into an independently traded company, SpinCo, expected in the first calendar quarter of 2027. Flex SpinCo leadership announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Flex announced leadership teams for both the remaining Flex business and SpinCo, providing additional detail on preparations for the planned separation but no immediate financial impact. Flex Q1 2027 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: The stock’s decline, on volume well above average, indicates that the strong results and outlook may already have been priced in. With shares trading at a relatively elevated earnings multiple, investors may be taking profits because the full-year EPS guidance range of $4.42-$4.74 only modestly exceeds or surrounds current consensus expectations.

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.