Norges Bank Buys New Stake in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 558,366 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $131,579,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 2.25% of Littelfuse at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Littelfuse by 525.0% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 125 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Littelfuse by 181.0% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust acquired a new position in Littelfuse during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Littelfuse by 548.3% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 188 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Littelfuse by 221.0% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 260 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 96.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Littelfuse Stock Performance

Shares of LFUS opened at $196.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a current ratio of 3.61. Littelfuse, Inc. has a 1 year low of $193.55 and a 1 year high of $275.58. The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $241.13.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04. Littelfuse had a net margin of 5.16% and a return on equity of 8.55%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th were paid a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 20th. Littelfuse’s payout ratio is currently 62.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LFUS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Littelfuse from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Littelfuse from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Littelfuse in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.00.

Littelfuse Company Profile

Littelfuse, Inc designs, manufactures, and sells electronic components, modules, and subassemblies in the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. The company operates through Electronic, Transportation, and Industrial segments. The Electronics segment offers fuses and fuse accessories, positive temperature coefficient resettable fuses, electromechanical switches and interconnect solutions, polymer electrostatic discharge suppressors, varistors, reed switch based magnetic sensing products, and gas discharge tubes; and discrete transient voltage suppressor (TVS) diodes, TVS diode arrays, protection and switching thyristors, metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and diodes, and insulated gate bipolar transistors.