TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL - Free Report) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,208,088 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 203,548 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 1.08% of TE Connectivity worth $458,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in TE Connectivity by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,378,995 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $4,629,225,000 after buying an additional 4,029,596 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in TE Connectivity by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,852,607 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,940,615,000 after purchasing an additional 268,837 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in TE Connectivity in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $909,598,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in TE Connectivity by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,981,870 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $899,681,000 after purchasing an additional 75,658 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $581,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702,825 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.43% of the company's stock.

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TE Connectivity Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TEL traded down $12.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $130.14. 2,922,305 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,680,245. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.34. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a 1-year low of $130.00 and a 1-year high of $159.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market cap of $38.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.25.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $1.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.06. TE Connectivity had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 18.82%. The company had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The business's revenue was up .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. This is an increase from TE Connectivity's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 21st. TE Connectivity's dividend payout ratio is 45.37%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on TEL. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of TE Connectivity from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut TE Connectivity from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. HSBC raised TE Connectivity from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $166.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on TE Connectivity from $162.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on TE Connectivity from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $167.00.

About TE Connectivity

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.