ING Groep NV Invests $6.15 Million in Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• ING Groep NV opened a new position in Flex during the fourth quarter, buying 101,800 shares worth about $6.15 million.
• Institutional interest in Flex remains strong, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 94.3% of the company’s shares.
• Analysts are broadly positive on the stock, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.70, while some firms recently raised their targets sharply.

ING Groep NV bought a new position in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 101,800 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $6,151,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 5.3% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,588 shares of the technology company's stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,159 shares of the technology company's stock worth $855,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Flex by 1.2% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 19,729 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in Flex by 3.7% during the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 6,980 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Flex by 3.3% during the second quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 8,063 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on FLEX shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, March 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.70.

Flex Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of FLEX opened at $150.83 on Tuesday. Flex Ltd. has a twelve month low of $42.83 and a twelve month high of $166.86. The company has a market cap of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.63. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $109.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.53.

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

Insider Activity at Flex

In other Flex news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 22,216 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.38, for a total transaction of $3,163,114.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 232,706 shares in the company, valued at $33,132,680.28. This represents a 8.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 33,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.91, for a total transaction of $5,079,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 73,471 shares in the company, valued at $11,307,921.61. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 345,012 shares of company stock worth $48,508,103 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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