BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments Takes $16.25 Million Position in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)

BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 69,300 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $16,250,000. BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments owned 0.28% of Littelfuse as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LFUS. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Littelfuse during the 4th quarter worth about $131,579,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Littelfuse in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,865,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Littelfuse by 119.4% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 116,940 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $27,557,000 after acquiring an additional 63,632 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Littelfuse by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 763,396 shares of the technology company's stock worth $179,895,000 after acquiring an additional 55,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Littelfuse by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,807,162 shares of the technology company's stock worth $661,508,000 after buying an additional 40,423 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Littelfuse news, SVP Deepak Nayar sold 1,477 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.50, for a total value of $291,707.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 5,975 shares in the company, valued at $1,180,062.50. This represents a 19.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company's stock.

Littelfuse Stock Performance

Shares of LFUS traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.74. 81,387 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 156,402. Littelfuse, Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.10 and a 1-year high of $275.58. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.38. The stock's fifty day moving average is $186.80 and its 200 day moving average is $223.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 3.61.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $2.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $554.31 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.60 million. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 5.16%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.76 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Littelfuse Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 22nd. Littelfuse's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on LFUS. StockNews.com upgraded Littelfuse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Littelfuse from $310.00 to $275.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Littelfuse in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Baird R W lowered Littelfuse from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Littelfuse from $182.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Littelfuse currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $252.25.

About Littelfuse

Littelfuse, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors.