Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) saw a large decline in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 817,200 shares, a decline of 42.0% from the February 29th total of 1,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 250,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on TFX shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Teleflex in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Teleflex from $272.00 to $265.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Teleflex from $227.00 to $271.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 20th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Teleflex from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Teleflex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.56.

Teleflex Stock Performance

TFX traded up $1.24 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $225.11. The company had a trading volume of 14,557 shares, compared to its average volume of 255,539. Teleflex has a 12-month low of $177.63 and a 12-month high of $276.43. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $236.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The medical technology company reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.26 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $773.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $769.01 million. Teleflex had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 11.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.52 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Teleflex will post 13.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teleflex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.34 dividend. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Teleflex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.06%.

Insider Activity at Teleflex

In other Teleflex news, VP Cameron P. Hicks sold 7,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,665,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,050 shares in the company, valued at $2,261,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teleflex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Teleflex by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 4,910 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Teleflex by 4.3% in the third quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 17,753 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $3,487,000 after buying an additional 737 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Teleflex in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Pinebridge Investments L.P. purchased a new position in Teleflex during the second quarter valued at approximately $700,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd increased its holdings in Teleflex by 97.7% during the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 23,767 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $4,668,000 after acquiring an additional 11,743 shares during the period. 95.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.