Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 2,334.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,500 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 31,165 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $4,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in TEL. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of TE Connectivity in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 117.6% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 198 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in TE Connectivity during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in TE Connectivity during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new stake in TE Connectivity in the 4th quarter worth approximately $57,000. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial decreased their target price on TE Connectivity from $163.00 to $156.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of TE Connectivity from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Vertical Research raised shares of TE Connectivity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of TE Connectivity from $167.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John S. Jenkins sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.39, for a total value of $4,481,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 24,625 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,678,728.75. This represents a 54.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.77, for a total transaction of $3,669,250.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,976 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,812,497.52. The trade was a 49.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 92,844 shares of company stock worth $13,953,571 over the last three months. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

TE Connectivity Trading Up 5.4%

NYSE:TEL opened at $161.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.10. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a one year low of $116.30 and a one year high of $161.15. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.26.

TE Connectivity (NYSE:TEL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $4.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.97 billion. TE Connectivity had a return on equity of 18.82% and a net margin of 12.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This is a boost from TE Connectivity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. TE Connectivity’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.42%.

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.