Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also commented on FLEX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Flex from $52.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Flex from $53.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on Flex from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Flex from $35.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Flex in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.33.

Flex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FLEX opened at $41.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.66 billion, a PE ratio of 16.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. Flex has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $45.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.98.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The technology company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.04. Flex had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 3.95%. The business had revenue of $6.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. Flex’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Flex will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Flex

In other Flex news, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 4,502 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.99, for a total value of $189,038.98. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 38,676 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,624,005.24. This trade represents a 10.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Revathi Advaithi sold 164,700 shares of Flex stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.99, for a total value of $6,915,753.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,319,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $55,419,367.77. This trade represents a 11.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 489,255 shares of company stock valued at $19,589,788 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Flex by 8.4% during the first quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 7,610 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $252,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Flex in the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its position in shares of Flex by 369.9% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 14,521 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $480,000 after purchasing an additional 11,431 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Flex by 16.9% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,135,247 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $103,714,000 after purchasing an additional 453,455 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Flex in the first quarter valued at about $397,000. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices.