Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST)

Sensata Technologies Holding plc (NYSE:ST) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 8,630 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 539% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,351 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sensata Technologies

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,470,903 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $196,187,000 after buying an additional 23,946 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Sensata Technologies by 84.8% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 5,059,047 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $189,158,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321,782 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in Sensata Technologies by 24.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 458,457 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock worth $17,142,000 after purchasing an additional 91,452 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in Sensata Technologies during the third quarter worth approximately $9,791,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Sensata Technologies in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Sensata Technologies from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Sensata Technologies from $43.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Sensata Technologies from $34.00 to $32.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Sensata Technologies from $38.00 to $33.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Sensata Technologies from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sensata Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.00.

Sensata Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of ST opened at $27.40 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.76 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a market cap of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.22. Sensata Technologies has a one year low of $26.65 and a one year high of $43.14.

Sensata Technologies (NYSE:ST) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86. Sensata Technologies had a positive return on equity of 17.68% and a negative net margin of 1.98%. The firm had revenue of $982.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $983.93 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sensata Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Sensata Technologies will post 3.43 EPS for the current year.

Sensata Technologies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. Sensata Technologies’s payout ratio is -88.89%.

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.