Flex Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:FLEX)

Key Points

• Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) experienced a significant increase in put options trading, with 5,011 contracts purchased—up 235% from the average volume.
• The company's stock was trading down 0.1% at $49.61, with a market cap of $18.54 billion and a P/E ratio of 23.39.
• In its latest earnings report, Flex posted $0.72 EPS, beating estimates of $0.63, with revenue reaching $6.58 billion, surpassing expectations.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook on Flex, with several firms raising their target prices; the current consensus rating is "Buy" with a target price of $53.71.

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 5,011 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 235% compared to the typical volume of 1,498 put options.

Flex Trading Down 0.1%

FLEX stock traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $49.61. 800,078 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,125,218. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Flex has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $53.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.07.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The technology company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 3.25% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.51 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Flex will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Flex

In other Flex news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 35,393 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.87, for a total value of $1,517,297.91. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 293,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,569,269.65. This trade represents a 10.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 37,533 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.87, for a total transaction of $1,609,039.71. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 269,151 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,538,503.37. This trade represents a 12.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,135,941 shares of company stock valued at $47,582,965. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FLEX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Flex in the 4th quarter valued at $229,484,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Flex by 55.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,363,106 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $276,652,000 after buying an additional 2,968,285 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Flex by 3,794.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,900,133 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $95,936,000 after buying an additional 2,825,667 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in Flex by 13,790.0% in the 4th quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,238,019 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $47,528,000 after buying an additional 1,229,106 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its stake in Flex by 73.6% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,777,753 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $91,888,000 after buying an additional 1,177,970 shares during the period. 94.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLEX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Flex in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Flex from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Flex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Flex from $44.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Flex from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $53.71.

About Flex

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.

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