Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) Sets New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Littelfuse hit a new 52-week high — shares traded up to $414.63 (last $413.55) on Friday, giving the company a market capitalization around $10.26 billion and a same-day gain of about 0.9%.
• Analyst views are mixed but mildly positive: the consensus rating is a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $401.67, while Oppenheimer raised its target to $430 even as several firms issued downgrades.
• Insiders have been net sellers — 50,109 shares sold (~$16.66M) in the past 90 days — while major institutions (Vanguard, T. Rowe Price, Barrow Hanley) increased stakes, and roughly 96% of shares are owned by institutional investors.

Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $414.63 and last traded at $413.5540, with a volume of 17978 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $404.17.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on LFUS. Robert W. Baird set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Littelfuse in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Littelfuse from $380.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Littelfuse currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $401.67.

Littelfuse Stock Up 0.9%

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of -140.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $357.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $304.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 2.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.51 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $593.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $583.53 million. Littelfuse had a negative net margin of 3.00% and a positive return on equity of 10.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 12.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deepak Nayar sold 8,875 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.55, for a total value of $2,853,756.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 6,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,932,193.95. This represents a 59.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Peter Sung-Jip Kim sold 5,488 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $326.35, for a total transaction of $1,791,008.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 10,175 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,320,611.25. This trade represents a 35.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,109 shares of company stock valued at $16,659,553. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Littelfuse by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,969,874 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $751,141,000 after acquiring an additional 44,826 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Littelfuse by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,024,176 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $259,035,000 after acquiring an additional 412,160 shares in the last quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. raised its holdings in Littelfuse by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. now owns 980,498 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $247,988,000 after acquiring an additional 37,203 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Littelfuse by 58.6% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 609,966 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $154,273,000 after acquiring an additional 225,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Littelfuse by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 516,479 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $130,635,000 after acquiring an additional 25,860 shares in the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Littelfuse Company Profile

Littelfuse, Inc is a global manufacturer of circuit protection, power control, and sensing technologies. Founded in 1927 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company develops and produces a broad range of products designed to safeguard electrical and electronic systems across a variety of end markets. Littelfuse's offerings include fuses, semiconductors, relays, and sensors, all engineered to protect against overcurrent, overvoltage, and thermal events in demanding applications.

The company's product portfolio is organized into key segments such as Automotive, Industrial & Electronics, and Power & Sensor.

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