First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,537 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $3,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC acquired a new position in TE Connectivity in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in TE Connectivity by 358.5% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 243 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC bought a new position in TE Connectivity in the third quarter worth $35,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp increased its stake in TE Connectivity by 101.3% in the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 322 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in TE Connectivity by 176.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 329 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TEL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on TE Connectivity in a report on Friday, December 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $144.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of TE Connectivity from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of TE Connectivity from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of TE Connectivity in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of TE Connectivity in a report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $146.67.

TE Connectivity Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:TEL traded down $2.05 on Tuesday, hitting $141.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 866,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,148,088. The company has a market capitalization of $44.11 billion, a PE ratio of 13.66, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 1.16. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1 year low of $115.00 and a 1 year high of $146.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.63.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.13. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 20.69%. The business had revenue of $3.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 7.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. TE Connectivity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.39%.

TE Connectivity announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, December 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven T. Merkt sold 99,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.00, for a total value of $14,367,888.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,459 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,386,096. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.86% of the company’s stock.

About TE Connectivity

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.