Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Decreases Holdings in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. trimmed its Flex stake by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, but still held 1.22 million shares valued at about $73.6 million. Flex remained one of the firm’s top holdings, representing roughly 3% of its portfolio.
• Insider selling has been notable, including recent share sales by Director Charles K. Stevens III and COO Kwang Hooi Tan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 362,512 shares worth about $49.5 million.
• Analysts have turned more bullish on Flex, with multiple firms raising price targets and Zacks upgrading the stock to strong-buy. The consensus rating remains Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $115.70, even as the shares have traded well above prior averages.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,217,644 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 13,032 shares during the quarter. Flex makes up approximately 3.0% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.33% of Flex worth $73,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in Flex by 238.3% during the third quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 504 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 355 shares during the period. Gables Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. bought a new stake in Flex during the third quarter valued at about $52,000. 94.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flex news, Director Charles K. Stevens III sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.14, for a total value of $2,072,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 45,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,275,147.64. This represents a 24.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 26,175 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.37, for a total transaction of $3,726,534.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,452,841.91. The trade was a 9.27% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 362,512 shares of company stock valued at $49,538,328. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Flex Trading Down 4.8%

Shares of NASDAQ FLEX opened at $151.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business's 50 day moving average price is $107.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.73. Flex Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $42.60 and a fifty-two week high of $166.86. The company has a market cap of $55.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.20, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. Flex had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Flex Ltd. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Flex

Here are the key news stories impacting Flex this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Flex is highlighted as a potential winner in a strengthening electronics sector, with analysts pointing to infrastructure investment and capacity expansion as tailwinds for the business. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are reacting to Flex’s growth strategy, including the planned separation of its Power and Cloud portfolio and an acquisition in electrical power, which could expand its exposure to AI data centers, grid modernization, and electrification. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A Zacks follow-up notes that FLEX has risen since its last earnings report, but questions remain about whether the momentum can continue, making this more of a status update than a clear catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: EVP David Scott Offer sold 33,000 shares in a pre-arranged 10b5-1 transaction, trimming his stake by about 31%; while routine, insider selling can still weigh on sentiment. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on FLEX. Zacks Research raised Flex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.70.

Flex Company Profile

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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