Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $35.95, but opened at $36.79. Flex shares last traded at $36.48, with a volume of 237,171 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Flex from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded Flex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Flex in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Flex Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.68 and a 200-day moving average of $37.32. The firm has a market cap of $13.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.68, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Flex had a return on equity of 17.93% and a net margin of 3.95%. Research analysts predict that Flex Ltd. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Flex

In related news, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 64,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.89, for a total transaction of $2,844,379.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 233,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,249,456.14. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lay Koon Tan sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total value of $2,162,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 202,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,773,262.50. The trade was a 19.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FLEX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Flex by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 52,500 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Flex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. Challenger Wealth Management bought a new position in Flex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Flex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $959,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in Flex by 114.3% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 60,036 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,305,000 after purchasing an additional 32,021 shares in the last quarter. 94.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Flex Company Profile

Flex Ltd. provides technology, supply chain, and manufacturing solutions in Asia, the Americas, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Flex Agility Solutions (FAS), Flex Reliability Solutions (FRS), and Nextracker. The FAS segment offers flexible supply and manufacturing system comprising communications, enterprise and cloud solution, which includes data, edge, and communications infrastructure; lifestyle solution including appliances, consumer packaging, floorcare, micro mobility, and audio; and consumer devices, such as mobile and high velocity consumer devices.