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

Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) saw a large growth in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 998,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Approximately 5.2% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Teleflex Price Performance

TFX opened at $137.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50-day moving average is $159.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.36. Teleflex has a 1 year low of $128.55 and a 1 year high of $249.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

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

Teleflex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TFX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Teleflex from $275.00 to $191.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Teleflex in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Teleflex from $214.00 to $146.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Citizens Jmp downgraded Teleflex from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered Teleflex from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $220.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $182.63.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFX. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Teleflex by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,173,121 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $1,098,693,000 after acquiring an additional 261,279 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Teleflex by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,376,452 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,329,704,000 after purchasing an additional 147,147 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Teleflex by 1.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,057,080 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $508,757,000 after buying an additional 21,291 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Teleflex by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,138,867 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $202,161,000 after buying an additional 8,307 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of Teleflex by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,078,557 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $191,962,000 after buying an additional 195,150 shares during the last quarter. 95.62% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Teleflex Company Profile

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.