Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) Stake Lifted by Prospector Partners LLC

Prospector Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Free Report) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,725 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 18,625 shares during the period. Littelfuse accounts for approximately 2.2% of Prospector Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Prospector Partners LLC owned approximately 0.27% of Littelfuse worth $17,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Littelfuse in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Littelfuse by 372.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 137 shares of the technology company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Littelfuse in the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Littelfuse by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 432 shares of the technology company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kessler Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Littelfuse by 57.9% in the fourth quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC now owns 589 shares of the technology company's stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 96.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Littelfuse Price Performance

NASDAQ LFUS traded down $3.89 on Thursday, reaching $258.08. 101,341 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 149,088. The stock has a market cap of $6.40 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.32. Littelfuse, Inc. has a 12 month low of $212.80 and a 12 month high of $309.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 3.57 and a quick ratio of 2.44. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $239.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.37.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The technology company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $535.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $519.08 million. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 10.21% and a net margin of 9.58%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.64 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 8.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 23rd will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 22nd. Littelfuse's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $270.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Friday, May 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Littelfuse from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Littelfuse from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Littelfuse in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a "hold" rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Littelfuse in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $280.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Meenal Sethna sold 6,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.49, for a total value of $1,568,179.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,753,583.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Meenal Sethna sold 6,114 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.49, for a total value of $1,568,179.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 22,432 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,753,583.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Ryan K. Stafford sold 2,219 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.33, for a total value of $568,796.27. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 24,437 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,263,936.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,160 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,959. 2.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Littelfuse Company Profile

Littelfuse, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors.