Bridgewater Associates LP Purchases 23,379 Shares of Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST - Free Report) by 220.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,965 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,379 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP's holdings in Sensata Technologies were worth $931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 16.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 14,278 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,061 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 14.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 77,759 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $2,788,000 after acquiring an additional 10,107 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,520,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $90,393,000 after acquiring an additional 24,707 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 29,346 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 3.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 11,442 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company's stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. 99.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ST. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Sensata Technologies from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Sensata Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and cut their price target for the company from $31.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Sensata Technologies from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Sensata Technologies from $37.00 to $30.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $27.00 to $21.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.55.

Sensata Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ST traded up $1.22 during trading on Thursday, hitting $21.34. 298,554 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,800,120. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 1-year low of $17.32 and a 1-year high of $43.14. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.12. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $24.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.99 and a current ratio of 2.85.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.76 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.76. Sensata Technologies had a return on equity of 17.54% and a net margin of 3.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sensata Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 14th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Sensata Technologies's payout ratio is 57.14%.

About Sensata Technologies

Sensata Technologies Holding plc develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and sensor-rich solutions, electrical protection components and systems, and other products used in mission-critical systems and applications in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions.