Swiss National Bank Buys 60,500 Shares of Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,085,250 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 60,500 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.30% of Flex worth $71,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Flex by 196.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,746,330 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,341,053,000 after purchasing an additional 25,662,586 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Flex during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $319,756,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd purchased a new position in Flex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,497,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Flex by 12.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of Flex by 62.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 1,311 shares of Flex stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.20, for a total transaction of $190,357.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 37,932 shares in the company, valued at $5,507,726.40. This trade represents a 3.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $145.19, for a total transaction of $1,303,951.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 248,546 shares in the company, valued at $36,086,393.74. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders sold 769,195 shares of company stock valued at $110,116,823. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Flex in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.70.

Flex Trading Up 6.2%

FLEX opened at $127.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.90. Flex Ltd. has a one year low of $47.83 and a one year high of $166.86. The stock has a market cap of $46.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.64.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. Flex had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 3.15%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Flex Ltd. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

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.