Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) Short Interest Up 18.5% in March

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,140,000 shares, a growth of 18.5% from the March 15th total of 9,400,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,970,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Flex Price Performance

NASDAQ FLEX traded up $0.54 on Friday, reaching $35.20. 2,875,363 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,972,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Flex has a 12 month low of $25.11 and a 12 month high of $45.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.32. The stock has a market cap of $13.49 billion, a PE ratio of 14.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.99.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.07. Flex had a net margin of 3.95% and a return on equity of 17.93%. As a group, research analysts predict that Flex will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Flex from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Flex from $53.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Flex from $46.00 to $35.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Flex from $52.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Flex has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $43.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lay Koon Tan sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.25, for a total transaction of $2,162,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 202,850 shares in the company, valued at $8,773,262.50. The trade was a 19.77 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Michael P. Hartung sold 64,807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.89, for a total transaction of $2,844,379.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 233,526 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,249,456.14. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Flex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Flex by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 774,856 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,902,000 after purchasing an additional 231,572 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Flex in the third quarter worth about $75,000. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new stake in Flex during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $703,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of Flex by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,047,021 shares of the technology company's stock worth $202,152,000 after acquiring an additional 296,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Flex by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 48,895 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.30% of the company's stock.

About Flex

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.