Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $2.68 Billion Stock Holdings in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its position in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL - Free Report) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,717,173 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 3,205,578 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 6.27% of TE Connectivity worth $2,675,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,378,995 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $4,629,225,000 after buying an additional 4,029,596 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of TE Connectivity during the 4th quarter valued at about $909,598,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of TE Connectivity by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,015,210 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $857,499,000 after purchasing an additional 33,340 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in TE Connectivity by 72.1% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,064,822 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $581,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,825 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in TE Connectivity by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,749,622 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $536,083,000 after buying an additional 488,680 shares during the last quarter. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TEL has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on TE Connectivity from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC upgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $165.00 to $142.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on TE Connectivity from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $159.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of TE Connectivity stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.77, for a total value of $3,669,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 25,976 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,812,497.52. This trade represents a 49.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

TE Connectivity Stock Up 0.7 %

TEL stock traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $144.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,464,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,793. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1-year low of $116.30 and a 1-year high of $159.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.45 and a 200 day moving average of $146.08.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.14. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.97 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from TE Connectivity's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. TE Connectivity's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.37%.

TE Connectivity Company Profile

TE Connectivity Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells connectivity and sensor solutions in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the AsiaPacific, and the Americas. The company operates through three segments: Transportation Solutions, Industrial Solutions, and Communications Solutions.