HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors LLC cut its Flex stake by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,194 shares and leaving it with 121,435 shares valued at about $7.34 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased their positions, including Vanguard, State Street, and JPMorgan, while hedge funds and other institutions still own 94.30% of Flex shares.
• Flex executives recently sold stock: EVP David Scott Offer and CEO Revathi Advaithi both sold shares on May 11 to cover tax withholding from equity awards, and analysts remain broadly positive with a Moderate Buy consensus and a target price of $112.80.

HighTower Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 121,435 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 19,194 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in Flex were worth $7,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FLEX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $2,341,053,000 after buying an additional 25,662,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted 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 buying an additional 3,377,669 shares during the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Flex by 118.1% in the third 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Flex by 80.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,645,745 shares of the technology company's stock worth $153,374,000 after buying an additional 1,183,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Flex in the third quarter worth about $56,270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flex news, EVP David Scott Offer sold 22,212 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.40, for a total transaction of $3,162,988.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 74,926 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,669,462.40. This represents a 22.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Revathi Advaithi sold 114,090 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.37, for a total value of $16,242,993.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,022 shares of the company's stock, valued at $98,096,062.14. The trade was a 14.21% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 329,512 shares of company stock worth $44,459,298 in the last ninety days. 0.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Flex from $72.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price target on Flex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $80.00 price target on Flex and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.80.

Flex Stock Performance

NASDAQ FLEX opened at $143.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.48, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.46. Flex Ltd. has a twelve month low of $41.43 and a twelve month high of $147.34. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.62 and a 200 day moving average of $73.73.

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

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.