Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 6,062 Shares of Flex Ltd. $FLEX

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Flex Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX) by 63.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,685 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,062 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Flex were worth $1,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Flex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Flex by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,279,137 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,314,000 after buying an additional 211,046 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Flex during the 1st quarter valued at $397,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Flex by 63.8% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Flex by 92.4% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 62,078 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,099,000 after acquiring an additional 29,821 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Revathi Advaithi sold 39,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.18, for a total transaction of $5,689,313.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 584,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,825,480.04. The trade was a 6.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Kwang Hooi Tan sold 8,981 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.19, for a total transaction of $1,303,951.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 248,546 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,086,393.74. This trade represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 769,195 shares of company stock worth $110,116,823. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Flex Trading Down 2.7%

Flex stock opened at $128.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.36. Flex Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $47.83 and a fifty-two week high of $166.86. The stock has a market cap of $47.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.24, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $143.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $95.21.

Flex (NASDAQ:FLEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The technology company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $7.48 billion during the quarter. Flex had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 3.15%. Equities research analysts forecast that Flex Ltd. will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FLEX. Barclays lifted their price target on Flex from $174.00 to $203.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price objective on Flex in a report on Thursday, May 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Flex from $75.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Flex from $75.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Flex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Flex has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.70.

About Flex

Flex (NASDAQ: FLEX), formerly known as Flextronics, is a global provider of electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturing (ODM). The company offers end-to-end product lifecycle solutions including product design and engineering, prototyping, volume manufacturing, testing, and aftermarket services. Its offerings extend into supply chain management, component sourcing, logistics and distribution, and advanced manufacturing capabilities such as automation and digital manufacturing to support customers from concept through end-of-life.

Flex serves a broad range of industries, including automotive, healthcare, industrial, communications, and consumer electronics, working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and technology companies to accelerate time to market and manage complex supply chains.