Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires 111,354 Shares of Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 34.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 431,680 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 111,354 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Flex were worth $28,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $2,341,053,000 after purchasing an additional 25,662,586 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $319,756,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new stake in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,497,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Flex by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 173,277 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $10,469,000 after acquiring an additional 19,270 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in Flex by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 340,389 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $20,566,000 after acquiring an additional 130,641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

Flex Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of FLEX stock opened at $113.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.87. Flex Ltd. has a one year low of $47.83 and a one year high of $166.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $140.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.96. The company has a market capitalization of $41.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.62, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 1.64.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter. Flex had a net margin of 3.15% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The company had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. Sell-side analysts expect that Flex Ltd. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP David Scott Offer sold 33,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.91, for a total value of $5,079,030.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 73,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,307,921.61. This represents a 30.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 22,627 shares of Flex stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.48, for a total value of $3,269,148.96. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 253,199 shares in the company, valued at $36,582,191.52. This trade represents a 8.20% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Flex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.70.

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.