LSV Asset Management Sells 2,164,782 Shares of Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• LSV Asset Management cut its Flex position by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,164,782 shares and ending with 3,743,369 shares worth about $226.2 million.
• Several analysts turned increasingly bullish on Flex, with firms like Goldman Sachs and KeyCorp raising price targets sharply; the stock now carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target of $112.80.
• Flex reported solid recent results, including $0.93 EPS on $7.48 billion in revenue, while the shares were trading up 1.1% at $132.47 amid notable insider selling and high institutional ownership.

LSV Asset Management lessened its position in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) by 36.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,743,369 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 2,164,782 shares during the quarter. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 1.01% of Flex worth $226,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FLEX. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flex in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Flex by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,279,137 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $42,314,000 after purchasing an additional 211,046 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $397,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flex by 63.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Flex by 92.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 62,078 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,099,000 after purchasing an additional 29,821 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on FLEX. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on Flex in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial set a $80.00 price target on Flex and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Flex has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.80.

Flex Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:FLEX opened at $132.47 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $48.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.85, a PEG ratio of 0.69 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 $40.15 and a 1 year high of $147.34. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $90.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.62.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 26,175 shares of the company'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 $3,726,534.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 256,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,452,841.91. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 45,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,275,147.64. The trade was a 24.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 226,512 shares of company stock valued at $30,720,858. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

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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