KBC Group NV Buys 1,659,384 Shares of Flex Ltd. $FLEX

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 541.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,965,811 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,659,384 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Flex were worth $128,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Flex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,756,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Flex by 38.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,259,554 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $611,997,000 after purchasing an additional 3,377,669 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Flex by 694,916.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,641,062 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $159,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,640,682 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in Flex by 141.8% in the fourth 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. 94.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flex Stock Performance

Shares of FLEX stock opened at $119.25 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Flex Ltd. has a 12-month low of $47.83 and a 12-month high of $166.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 51.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $143.16 and its 200 day moving average is $96.02.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter. The business 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%. Research analysts expect that Flex Ltd. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FLEX. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Flex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Flex news, EVP David Scott Offer sold 6,657 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.23, for a total transaction of $966,796.11. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 91,122 shares in the company, valued at $13,233,648.06. The trade was a 6.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 8,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.19, for a total transaction of $1,303,951.39. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 248,546 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,086,393.74. The trade was a 3.49% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 769,195 shares of company stock valued at $110,116,823 over the last ninety days. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.