Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) stock hit a new 52-week high at $64.33, marking a significant price increase from its previous close of $61.33, with over 1.4 million shares traded.
• Several analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Flex, with Goldman Sachs setting a target of $66.00, while Bank of America increased theirs from $58.00 to $65.00 and rated it as a "buy."
• Despite strong quarterly earnings reports, insider sales have raised concerns, with key executives recently selling significant amounts of stock, leading to a decrease in their ownership percentages.

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $64.33 and last traded at $64.09, with a volume of 1444249 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FLEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $66.00 price target on Flex in a report on Monday, September 29th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Flex from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KGI Securities lowered Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Flex from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.71.

Flex Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.13, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.81.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.27 billion. Flex had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 3.42%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.51 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Flex Ltd. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Flex news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.14, for a total value of $2,571,300.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 256,198 shares in the company, valued at $14,639,153.72. This trade represents a 14.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.66, for a total value of $566,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,131,492.54. This represents a 21.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 90,020 shares of company stock valued at $4,923,667. 0.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLEX. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Flex during the fourth quarter worth about $260,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Flex by 231.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,636 shares of the technology company's stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,142 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Flex by 1.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 44,895 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,485,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Flex by 2.5% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 196,233 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,491,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Flex by 114.7% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 201,886 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,678,000 after purchasing an additional 107,847 shares in the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.