Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 152,303 Shares of Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) by 30.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 349,569 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 152,303 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Sensata Technologies worth $12,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Sensata Technologies by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 158,141 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $5,810,000 after purchasing an additional 14,186 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Sensata Technologies by 84.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,059,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $189,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321,782 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Sensata Technologies in the first quarter worth $1,054,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Sensata Technologies by 3.7% in the second quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 228,440 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,541,000 after buying an additional 8,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Sensata Technologies by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,406,451 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $52,587,000 after buying an additional 122,795 shares during the period. 99.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ST shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Sensata Technologies from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of Sensata Technologies in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Sensata Technologies from $40.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Sensata Technologies in a report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Sensata Technologies from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.00.

Sensata Technologies Stock Performance

NYSE ST opened at $31.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.54. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 12-month low of $31.18 and a 12-month high of $43.14. The firm has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -58.94, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.86. The company had revenue of $982.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $983.93 million. Sensata Technologies had a positive return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 1.98%. Sensata Technologies’s quarterly revenue was down 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 13th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 13th. Sensata Technologies’s payout ratio is -88.89%.

About Sensata Technologies

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.