Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Purchases New Position in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• Gulf International Bank UK Ltd disclosed a new stake in Flex, buying 20,526 shares worth about $1.24 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional ownership in Flex remains very high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors holding 94.3% of the stock; several large firms, including Vanguard and State Street, also increased their positions.
• Flex shares were trading higher after strong analyst and earnings updates, with Barclays sharply raising its price target to $174 and the company reporting $0.93 EPS on revenue of $7.48 billion last quarter.

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,526 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $1,240,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Flex by 196.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Flex by 38.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,259,554 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $611,997,000 after purchasing an additional 3,377,669 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at $319,756,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Flex Trading Up 4.0%

Shares of FLEX opened at $150.65 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.66, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Flex Ltd. has a 1-year low of $41.43 and a 1-year high of $154.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $98.58 and a 200 day moving average of $75.42.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flex news, CEO Revathi Advaithi sold 114,090 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.37, for a total transaction of $16,242,993.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,022 shares in the company, valued at $98,096,062.14. This trade represents a 14.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 22,212 shares of Flex stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.40, for a total value of $3,162,988.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 74,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,669,462.40. This trade represents a 22.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 329,512 shares of company stock valued at $44,459,298 over the last 90 days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on FLEX shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Flex from $72.00 to $174.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research raised Flex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial set a $80.00 target price on Flex and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $112.80.

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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