First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 17,866 Shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 67.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 44,271 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,866 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $6,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in TEL. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,852,607 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,940,615,000 after purchasing an additional 268,837 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,981,870 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $899,681,000 after purchasing an additional 75,658 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in TE Connectivity by 26.0% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,367,650 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $508,481,000 after buying an additional 694,917 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in TE Connectivity by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,004,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $445,603,000 after buying an additional 712,228 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in TE Connectivity by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,762,099 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $266,059,000 after buying an additional 9,864 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on TEL shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised their price target on TE Connectivity from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. HSBC upgraded TE Connectivity from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $166.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on TE Connectivity from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.00.

TE Connectivity Stock Performance

Shares of TE Connectivity stock opened at $154.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $147.62 and a 200-day moving average of $148.88. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1-year low of $137.61 and a 1-year high of $159.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $46.16 billion, a PE ratio of 24.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.32.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3,916,310.63 billion. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 12.10%. TE Connectivity’s revenue for the quarter was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 30th that permits the company to buyback $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to reacquire up to 5.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.