Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 170,512 Shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,474,760 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 170,512 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $210,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in TE Connectivity by 14.8% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 5,048 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $762,000 after buying an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 286.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 16,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,534,000 after acquiring an additional 12,444 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity by 24.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 22,128 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,341,000 after purchasing an additional 4,359 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in TE Connectivity by 31.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,004,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $445,603,000 after purchasing an additional 712,228 shares during the period. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in TE Connectivity by 1.8% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,458 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.43% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TEL. Citigroup lowered their price target on TE Connectivity from $165.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded TE Connectivity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on TE Connectivity from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC raised shares of TE Connectivity from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $166.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, TE Connectivity has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $159.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of TE Connectivity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.77, for a total transaction of $3,669,250.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,497.52. This trade represents a 49.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

TE Connectivity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TEL opened at $127.09 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $146.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $37.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1-year low of $116.30 and a 1-year high of $159.98.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $1.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.82%. TE Connectivity’s quarterly revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Research analysts expect that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. This is an increase from TE Connectivity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. TE Connectivity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.37%.

TE Connectivity Profile

TE Connectivity Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells connectivity and sensor solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the AsiaPacific, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Transportation Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Communications Solutions.