Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST)

Heartland Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) by 75.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock after selling 152,150 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Sensata Technologies were worth $1,370,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ST. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Sensata Technologies by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 25,742 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $705,000 after acquiring an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Sensata Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,580,000. Easterly Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Sensata Technologies by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 250,323 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $6,859,000 after buying an additional 10,445 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 305,212 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $8,363,000 after buying an additional 32,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Sensata Technologies by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,433 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 99.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Sensata Technologies Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE ST opened at $24.79 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $27.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 29.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. Sensata Technologies Holding plc has a 52-week low of $24.42 and a 52-week high of $43.14.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76. Sensata Technologies had a net margin of 3.27% and a return on equity of 17.54%. Equities research analysts forecast that Sensata Technologies Holding plc will post 3.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 12th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Sensata Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ST. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Sensata Technologies from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Sensata Technologies from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Sensata Technologies from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Sensata Technologies from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.08.

Sensata Technologies Company 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.