Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock: M&G PLC Raises Position

M&G PLC grew its holdings in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 151.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 870,307 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 524,646 shares during the period. M&G PLC’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $73,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of APH. Purus Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 3.7% during the second quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC raised its position in Amphenol by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amphenol by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,980 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 14,211 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 5,675 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Stock Up 8.4%

APH stock opened at $80.89 on Tuesday. Amphenol Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $59.01 and a fifty-two week high of $89.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company has a market cap of $199.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. The business had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 22nd. This is a negative change from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 21.74%.

Amphenol announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that allows the company to repurchase $4 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the electronics maker to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $108.32.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares in the company, valued at approximately $317,961,554.72. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Company Profile

Amphenol Corporation designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and sensor products. Its offerings also include cable assemblies and related components used to transmit signals and power in electronic equipment and systems.

The company serves customers in a range of markets, including communications and information technology, automotive, aerospace and defense, industrial, mobile devices and data networks. Its products are used in applications such as vehicles, communications infrastructure, commercial aircraft and industrial equipment.

Founded in 1932, Amphenol has grown into a global manufacturer serving customers across the Americas, Europe and Asia.