Boston Partners Decreases Position in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• Boston Partners cut its Flex stake by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 6.93 million shares and leaving it with 12.1 million shares worth about $732.8 million.
• Other institutions were largely buying Flex, including Vanguard, State Street, Geode, Norges Bank, and Qube Research, and institutional investors now own 94.3% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on FLEX, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.70, while several firms recently raised their targets significantly.

Boston Partners decreased its position in shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) by 36.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,103,957 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 6,926,879 shares during the quarter. Flex accounts for 0.8% of Boston Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Boston Partners owned about 3.29% of Flex worth $732,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FLEX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Flex by 196.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,746,330 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,341,053,000 after purchasing an additional 25,662,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Flex by 38.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,259,554 shares of the technology company's stock worth $611,997,000 after purchasing an additional 3,377,669 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,605,802 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,829,000 after purchasing an additional 181,266 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Flex during the fourth quarter valued at $319,756,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Flex by 118.1% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 2,811,248 shares of the technology company's stock worth $162,968,000 after buying an additional 1,522,308 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on FLEX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on shares of Flex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.70.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Scott Offer sold 33,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 73,471 shares in the company, valued at $11,307,921.61. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 22,216 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.38, for a total value of $3,163,114.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 232,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,132,680.28. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 345,012 shares of company stock worth $48,508,103. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Flex Price Performance

NASDAQ FLEX opened at $149.71 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $115.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.91. Flex Ltd. has a 52 week low of $42.83 and a 52 week high of $166.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $54.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.25, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Flex Ltd. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current 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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