Clearbridge Investments LLC Decreases Position in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) by 86.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 172,062 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 1,072,329 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.11% of Sensata Technologies worth $6,322,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 94,351 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $3,466,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 25,912 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $952,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC raised its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 28,174 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 190,063 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $6,983,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 15,571 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $585,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Sensata Technologies from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $44.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Sensata Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of Sensata Technologies in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $36.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $37.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.90.

Sensata Technologies Price Performance

NYSE:ST traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $37.22. The company had a trading volume of 36,332 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,107,126. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $5.60 billion, a PE ratio of -338.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.12. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 52-week low of $30.56 and a 52-week high of $43.14.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $986.51 million. Sensata Technologies had a negative net margin of 0.35% and a positive return on equity of 17.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.92 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 14th. Sensata Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -436.32%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Ali John Mirshekari acquired 73,137 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $39.17 per share, with a total value of $2,864,776.29. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 73,137 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,864,776.29. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Sensata Technologies Profile

Sensata Technologies Holding plc develops, manufactures, and sells sensors and sensor-rich solutions, electrical protection components and systems, and other products used in mission-critical systems and applications in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Performance Sensing and Sensing Solutions.