Bank of New York Mellon Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon cut its Flex stake by 6% in the first quarter, selling 161,039 shares and ending with 2.51 million shares valued at about $164.4 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 94.3% of Flex; several large firms such as Vanguard and State Street increased their positions.
• Analysts remain generally positive on Flex, with multiple price-target increases and an overall “Moderate Buy” consensus, despite some recent insider selling and a stock price down 1.5% on the day.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp reduced its stake in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,511,337 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 161,039 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.68% of Flex worth $164,392,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 25,662,586 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Flex by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,055,533 shares of the technology company's stock worth $849,235,000 after acquiring an additional 2,126,440 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 181,266 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Flex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $319,756,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in shares of Flex by 141.8% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,693,141 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $223,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 1,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.20, for a total value of $190,357.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,507,726.40. This represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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 6,657 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total value of $966,796.11. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 91,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,233,648.06. This represents a 6.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FLEX. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Freedom Capital upgraded Flex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on Flex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.70.

Flex Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Flex stock opened at $119.25 on Friday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $143.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.78. The stock has a market cap of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.18, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.64. Flex Ltd. has a 12-month low of $47.83 and a 12-month high of $166.86.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flex Ltd. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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