Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FLEX. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on shares of Flex in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Flex from $84.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.70.

Flex Stock Performance

Shares of FLEX opened at $133.37 on Tuesday. Flex has a 12-month low of $47.83 and a 12-month high of $166.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 57.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $140.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.77.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Flex will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Flex

In related news, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 8,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.19, for a total transaction of $1,303,951.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 248,546 shares in the company, valued at $36,086,393.74. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CAO Daniel Wendler sold 1,311 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.20, for a total transaction of $190,357.20. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 37,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,507,726.40. The trade was a 3.34% 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. Insiders sold a total of 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Flex

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Flex by 196.1% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Flex during the fourth quarter valued at about $319,756,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in Flex in the fourth quarter worth about $2,497,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 19,270 shares during the period. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in Flex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $794,000. 94.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Flex Company Profile

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.