Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Littelfuse, Inc. (NASDAQ:LFUS - Free Report) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 260,137 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 8,361 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 1.05% of Littelfuse worth $61,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Littelfuse by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 96 shares of the technology company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Littelfuse in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Littelfuse by 525.0% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 125 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Littelfuse by 181.0% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 163 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Littelfuse during the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Institutional investors own 96.14% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Jeffrey G. Gorski sold 700 shares of Littelfuse stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.02, for a total value of $174,314.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,105 shares in the company, valued at $773,207.10. The trade was a 18.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 2.30% of the company's stock.

Littelfuse Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ LFUS traded down $6.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $249.16. The company had a trading volume of 80,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 159,636. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of 55.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.26. Littelfuse, Inc. has a one year low of $222.73 and a one year high of $275.58. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $237.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.40. The company has a quick ratio of 2.62, a current ratio of 3.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Littelfuse (NASDAQ:LFUS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The technology company reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.04. Littelfuse had a return on equity of 8.55% and a net margin of 5.16%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Littelfuse, Inc. will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Littelfuse Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.70 dividend. This represents a $2.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Littelfuse's payout ratio is 62.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LFUS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Littelfuse from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Littelfuse in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Littelfuse from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $280.00.

About Littelfuse

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.