Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Sells 27,100 Shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in TE Connectivity Ltd. by 83.4%, selling 27,100 shares and leaving it with 5,400 shares worth $763,000.
• TE Connectivity announced a quarterly dividend of $0.71, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.84 and a dividend yield of 1.4%, with a payout ratio of 58.80%.
• Shares of TE Connectivity experienced a recent trading price of $199.82, with a market capitalization of $59.04 billion and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL - Free Report) by 83.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,400 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 27,100 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEL. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of TE Connectivity during the fourth quarter worth approximately $127,351,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 21,927.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 703,350 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $99,397,000 after purchasing an additional 700,157 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 1,089.8% during the fourth quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 730,864 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $104,492,000 after purchasing an additional 669,435 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of TE Connectivity by 95.4% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,277,319 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $182,618,000 after purchasing an additional 623,652 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in TE Connectivity by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,691,050 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $384,739,000 after acquiring an additional 610,571 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TEL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on TE Connectivity from $168.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on TE Connectivity from $170.00 to $198.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of TE Connectivity in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded TE Connectivity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on TE Connectivity from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $194.80.

TE Connectivity Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of TEL traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $200.04. 1,219,861 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,299,662. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1-year low of $116.30 and a 1-year high of $212.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.84 and a 200-day moving average of $157.15.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.19. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 20.22% and a net margin of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.91 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

TE Connectivity Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 22nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 22nd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. TE Connectivity's dividend payout ratio is presently 58.80%.

Insider Transactions at TE Connectivity

In other TE Connectivity news, CFO Heath A. Mitts sold 53,306 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.21, for a total value of $8,486,848.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 45,503 shares in the company, valued at $7,244,532.63. This represents a 53.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total value of $3,975,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 25,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,130,963.28. This trade represents a 49.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 258,470 shares of company stock valued at $45,313,205. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

TE Connectivity Company Profile

TE Connectivity Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells connectivity and sensor solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the AsiaPacific, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Transportation Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Communications Solutions.