Short Interest in Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) Rises By 116.1%

Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE:TFX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,420,000 shares, an increase of 116.1% from the February 28th total of 1,120,000 shares. Currently, 5.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 998,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Teleflex Stock Performance

TFX stock traded down $1.61 during trading on Friday, hitting $137.76. The company had a trading volume of 776,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 579,236. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $159.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap 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. Teleflex has a 1-year low of $128.55 and a 1-year high of $249.91.

Teleflex (NYSE:TFX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 27th. The medical technology company reported $3.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.03. Teleflex had a return on equity of 14.19% and a net margin of 7.85%. The business had revenue of $795.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $813.24 million. On average, analysts expect that Teleflex will post 13.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Teleflex Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on TFX shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Teleflex in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $255.00) on shares of Teleflex in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Teleflex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Bank of America lowered Teleflex from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $140.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Teleflex from $214.00 to $146.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $182.63.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Teleflex

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TFX. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Teleflex during the 4th quarter worth approximately $100,328,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Teleflex by 48.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,068,593 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $190,188,000 after acquiring an additional 347,003 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Teleflex in the fourth quarter worth $46,696,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Teleflex by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,173,121 shares of the medical technology company’s stock valued at $1,098,693,000 after acquiring an additional 261,279 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Teleflex by 105.2% during the 4th quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 421,340 shares of the medical technology company’s stock worth $74,990,000 after purchasing an additional 215,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.62% of the company’s stock.

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.