Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 42,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock, valued at approximately $1,597,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in Sensata Technologies by 1,389.8% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 730 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 71.6% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,249 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sensata Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $61,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Sensata Technologies by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,561 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Sensata Technologies by 26.7% in the 2nd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 2,232 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock valued at $100,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.42% of the company's stock.

Sensata Technologies Price Performance

Shares of ST traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.70. 1,725,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,187,142. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -673.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.37. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 1-year low of $30.56 and a 1-year high of $48.15. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.94 and a 200-day moving average of $34.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.69 and a current ratio of 2.55.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.86 by ($0.05). Sensata Technologies had a negative net margin of 0.10% and a positive return on equity of 17.47%. The firm had revenue of $992.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $978.05 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensata Technologies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 13th. Sensata Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -959.81%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ST shares. Oppenheimer raised Sensata Technologies from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Bank of America downgraded Sensata Technologies from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $38.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price target (down from $44.00) on shares of Sensata Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Sensata Technologies from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Sensata Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $37.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.25.

About Sensata Technologies

Sensata Technologies Holding plc develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and sensor-rich solutions, electrical protection components and systems, and other products used in mission-critical systems and applications in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions.