Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) Short Interest Up 116.1% in March

Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,420,000 shares, a growth of 116.1% from the February 28th total of 1,120,000 shares. Approximately 5.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 998,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp downgraded shares of Teleflex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Teleflex from $275.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective (down previously from $255.00) on shares of Teleflex in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Teleflex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Teleflex from $200.00 to $149.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $182.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Teleflex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,328,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Teleflex by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,068,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $190,188,000 after purchasing an additional 347,003 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Teleflex during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,696,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Teleflex by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,173,121 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,098,693,000 after purchasing an additional 261,279 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Teleflex by 105.2% in the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 421,340 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $74,990,000 after purchasing an additional 215,961 shares in the last quarter. 95.62% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Teleflex Stock Performance

Shares of TFX stock opened at $137.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.42, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Teleflex has a 12-month low of $128.55 and a 12-month high of $249.91. The business’s 50 day moving average is $159.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.36. The company has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21.

Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical technology company reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $795.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.24 million. Teleflex had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 7.85%. Analysts expect that Teleflex will post 13.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teleflex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Teleflex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 95.77%.

About Teleflex

Teleflex Incorporated designs, develops, manufactures, and supplies single-use medical devices for common diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in critical care and surgical applications worldwide. The company provides vascular access products that comprise Arrow branded catheters, catheter navigation and tip positioning systems, and intraosseous access systems for the administration of intravenous therapies, the measurement of blood pressure, and the withdrawal of blood samples through a single puncture site.