Dodge & Cox Cuts Position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Dodge & Cox lowered its position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,965,609 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 24,577 shares during the quarter. TE Connectivity accounts for approximately 1.3% of Dodge & Cox’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Dodge & Cox owned 5.35% of TE Connectivity worth $2,282,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of TE Connectivity during the third quarter worth about $2,586,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity by 286.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 16,784 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,534,000 after purchasing an additional 12,444 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in TE Connectivity by 24.5% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 22,128 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in TE Connectivity by 31.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,004,540 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $445,603,000 after acquiring an additional 712,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TEL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of TE Connectivity from $188.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of TE Connectivity from $165.00 to $142.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on TE Connectivity from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. HSBC upgraded TE Connectivity from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $166.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $161.30.

Insider Transactions at TE Connectivity

In related news, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 25,976 shares in the company, valued at $3,812,497.52. The trade was a 49.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

TE Connectivity Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of TEL stock opened at $130.13 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $146.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 52-week low of $116.30 and a 52-week high of $159.98.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last posted 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. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. 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. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. TE Connectivity’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.37%.

TE Connectivity Company 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.