Merit Financial Group LLC Has $645,000 Position in TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of TE Connectivity Ltd. (NYSE:TEL) by 175.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,562 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in TE Connectivity were worth $645,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in TE Connectivity by 32.8% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 129,461 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $18,509,000 after acquiring an additional 31,991 shares during the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in TE Connectivity by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,634 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 80.6% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,821 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,690,000 after buying an additional 5,274 shares in the last quarter. Walter & Keenan Wealth Management LLC IN ADV acquired a new position in shares of TE Connectivity in the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in shares of TE Connectivity by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 97,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $13,874,000 after buying an additional 3,309 shares in the last quarter. 91.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on TEL. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of TE Connectivity from $163.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of TE Connectivity from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Vertical Research raised shares of TE Connectivity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of TE Connectivity from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP John S. Jenkins sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,678,728.75. The trade was a 54.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Shadrak W. Kroeger sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.03, for a total transaction of $3,975,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 25,976 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,963.28. The trade was a 49.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 174,675 shares of company stock valued at $27,369,059. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

TE Connectivity Price Performance

NYSE:TEL opened at $165.62 on Tuesday. TE Connectivity Ltd. has a one year low of $116.30 and a one year high of $166.60. The company has a market cap of $49.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $147.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $147.68. 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 (NYSE:TEL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $2.10 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.86 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that TE Connectivity Ltd. will post 8.05 earnings per share for the current year.

TE Connectivity Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This is an increase from TE Connectivity’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 21st. TE Connectivity’s 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.