Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Decreases Stock Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 25.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 326,801 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 109,690 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.20% of Plexus worth $44,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PLXS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Plexus by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,515,866 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $333,374,000 after buying an additional 74,988 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in shares of Plexus by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,109,047 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $217,611,000 after purchasing an additional 7,245 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Plexus by 8.8% during the second quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,366,000 after buying an additional 87,574 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its stake in Plexus by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 788,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $81,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Plexus by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 453,308 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,772,000 after acquiring an additional 31,099 shares in the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLXS opened at $162.01 on Monday. Plexus Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.18 and a 12-month high of $169.41. The company has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $143.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.30.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Plexus Corp. will post 6.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PLXS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total transaction of $950,738.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,271,870.10. This trade represents a 22.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victor (Pang Hau) Tan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.50, for a total transaction of $127,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,097,137.50. The trade was a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,091 shares of company stock valued at $5,334,885. Insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.