Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Shares Up 11.3% – Should You Buy?

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX)’s stock price rose 11.3% during trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $76.69 and last traded at $77.67. 616,971 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 4,912,272 shares. The stock had previously closed at $69.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Flex from $175.00 to $160.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen raised Flex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Flex from $154.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, October 16th. Raymond James Financial set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Flex and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Flex from $144.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $131.78.

Flex Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $28.11 billion, a PE ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $101.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.27.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The technology company reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.12. Flex had a return on equity of 24.93% and a net margin of 3.35%. The business had revenue of $8.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.17 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Flex Ltd. will post 4.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 2,755 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.64, for a total value of $332,363.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 243,175 shares in the company, valued at $29,336,632. This trade represents a 1.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Flex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Flex during the third quarter valued at approximately $332,000. USS Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Flex by 32.4% in the third quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 14,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,600 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Flex by 103.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 5,562 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $612,000 after acquiring an additional 2,831 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its stake in shares of Flex by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 57,548 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,330,000 after acquiring an additional 9,118 shares during the period. Finally, Mountaineer Partners Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Flex in the 3rd quarter valued at $12,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. is a global manufacturing and supply-chain services company that works with businesses to design, engineer, manufacture and support products. Its services include product development, sourcing, production, logistics and after-market support. The company serves a range of industries, including automotive, healthcare, industrial, lifestyle and communications, as well as cloud and data-center markets. Its work spans products and systems such as medical devices, vehicle components, industrial equipment and technology infrastructure.