Boston Partners Trims Stock Position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Key Points

• Boston Partners significantly reduced its stock holdings in TE Connectivity Ltd. by 29.3%, owning 1.4 million shares valued at approximately $200 million following the sale of over 588,000 shares in the 1st quarter.
• Recent insider transactions included John S. Jenkins, EVP of TE Connectivity, selling 45,850 shares, resulting in a 65.06% decrease in his holding in the company.
• Analysts have upgraded TE Connectivity's rating, with Citigroup raising its price target to $230 and numerous firms providing "buy" ratings, showcasing growing confidence in the company.

Boston Partners lowered its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL - Free Report) by 29.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,416,449 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 588,202 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.48% of TE Connectivity worth $200,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 8,471 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 812 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 109.3% during the 1st quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 494 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 816,581 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $115,399,000 after purchasing an additional 40,062 shares during the last quarter. Dagco Inc. bought a new position in shares of TE Connectivity during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 464,802 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $65,722,000 after acquiring an additional 24,529 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.43% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at TE Connectivity

In other news, EVP John S. Jenkins sold 45,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $209.33, for a total transaction of $9,597,780.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,154,751.25. This represents a 65.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Malavika Sagar sold 1,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.20, for a total value of $403,004.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $977,155.20. This represents a 29.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 138,795 shares of company stock valued at $26,401,597 over the last quarter. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on TEL. Citigroup boosted their price objective on TE Connectivity from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded TE Connectivity from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on TE Connectivity from $170.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of TE Connectivity in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on TE Connectivity from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $197.55.

TE Connectivity Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE TEL opened at $206.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $60.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.23. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a one year low of $116.30 and a one year high of $212.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $158.89.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.30 billion. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 20.22% and a net margin of 8.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 22nd. TE Connectivity's dividend payout ratio is currently 58.80%.

TE Connectivity Company Profile

TE Connectivity Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells connectivity and sensor solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the AsiaPacific, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Transportation Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Communications Solutions.

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