National Pension Service Acquires Shares of 621,457 Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Key Points

• National Pension Service disclosed a new fourth-quarter stake in Flex Ltd., buying 621,457 shares worth about $37.5 million and ending with roughly 0.17% ownership.
• Several insiders sold shares recently, including Director Charles K. Stevens III and EVP David Scott Offer; total insider selling over the last 90 days reached 329,512 shares valued at about $44.5 million.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on Flex, with a Moderate Buy consensus and a consensus target price of $112.80, though shares recently traded around $150.65 after a strong run.

National Pension Service acquired a new stake in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 621,457 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $37,548,000. National Pension Service owned about 0.17% of Flex at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Flex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Flex in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in Flex by 238.3% in the 3rd quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 504 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Flex in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in Flex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $52,000. 94.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Flex

In other Flex news, Director Charles K. Stevens III sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 45,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,275,147.64. This trade represents a 24.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP David Scott Offer sold 22,212 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 74,926 shares in the company, valued at $10,669,462.40. This represents a 22.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 valued at $44,459,298 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, March 8th. Raymond James Financial set a $80.00 target price on shares of Flex and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Flex from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $112.80.

Flex Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FLEX opened at $150.65 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $98.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.50. Flex Ltd. has a 52-week low of $41.43 and a 52-week high of $154.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.63.

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

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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