Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FLEX has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Flex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Flex in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $52.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Flex from $43.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flex presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $44.33.

Flex Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $14.30 billion, a PE ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.07. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $39.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The technology company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Flex Ltd. will post 2.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Flex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Flex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Flex by 112.9% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Flex during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its position in shares of Flex by 46.7% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,502 shares of the technology company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.