Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Trading 8.2% Higher - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Flex shares jumped 8.2% on Thursday, trading as high as $162.10 after closing at $150.72, though volume was well below average.
• Wall Street sentiment appears broadly positive, with multiple firms raising price targets and assigning Buy/Overweight ratings; the consensus target is $115.70, while some targets now reach as high as $203.
• Recent insider sales totaled a notable amount, but institutional investors remain heavily involved, owning 94.3% of Flex shares, and the company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.93 on revenue of $7.48 billion.

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 8.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $162.10 and last traded at $163.1040. 1,108,686 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 5,171,882 shares. The stock had previously closed at $150.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on FLEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Flex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp raised their price target 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.70.

Flex Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $60.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.54, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.64. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $128.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.36.

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

Insider Transactions at Flex

In other news, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 26,657 shares of Flex stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.48, for a total transaction of $3,851,403.36. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 257,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,207,500.96. This trade represents a 9.38% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.91, for a total value of $5,079,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 73,471 shares in the company, valued at $11,307,921.61. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 769,195 shares of company stock valued at $110,116,823. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Flex by 196.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,746,330 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,341,053,000 after acquiring an additional 25,662,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,055,533 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $849,235,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,440 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Flex by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,605,802 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $459,829,000 after purchasing an additional 181,266 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Flex in the 4th quarter valued at $319,756,000. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its stake in Flex by 141.8% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 3,693,141 shares of the technology company's stock worth $223,140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,165,780 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.30% 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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