Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Stock Price Down 8.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) dropped 8.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as low as $79.04 and last traded at $78.9420. Approximately 1,324,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 4,742,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Freedom Capital upgraded Flex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research cut Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Flex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Flex from $142.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $170.00 price target on shares of Flex and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.33.

Flex Trading Down 0.2%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $119.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.67.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, June 26th. The technology company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter. Flex had a return on equity of 23.15% and a net margin of 3.32%. Equities analysts expect that Flex Ltd. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.64, for a total transaction of $332,363.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 243,175 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,336,632. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Flex by 52.2% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,230,622 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $146,016,000 after purchasing an additional 764,558 shares during the period. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Flex by 541.5% during the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,965,811 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $128,682,000 after buying an additional 1,659,384 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 1,494,418 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $97,825,000 after buying an additional 200,553 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Flex by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,294,132 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $84,714,000 after buying an additional 109,992 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Flex by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,085,250 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $71,040,000 after buying an additional 60,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ: FLEX) is a global manufacturing and supply chain solutions provider. The company helps original equipment manufacturers design, engineer, manufacture, distribute and service products across their lifecycles.

Flex serves customers in industries including automotive, communications, consumer electronics, health care, industrial, lifestyle and cloud infrastructure. Its capabilities include product design and engineering, printed circuit board assembly, systems integration, supply chain management, logistics, and aftermarket services.

The company was founded in 1969 as Flextronics and later adopted the name Flex.