Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Stake Decreased by Buffington Mohr McNeal

Buffington Mohr McNeal lowered its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,752 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 5,161 shares during the quarter. Amphenol comprises about 2.6% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $13,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Amphenol by 95,441.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,868,807 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,055,971,000 after purchasing an additional 13,854,291 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Amphenol in the 4th quarter valued at about $653,884,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 44.1% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,811,475 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $823,186,000 after buying an additional 3,310,939 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,376,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $199,616,000 after buying an additional 845,637 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,090,708 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $343,579,000 after buying an additional 729,849 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Price Performance

NYSE APH traded up $0.18 on Tuesday, hitting $112.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,595,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,708,416. Amphenol Co. has a 12-month low of $72.00 and a 12-month high of $119.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $110.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.96. The company has a market capitalization of $67.72 billion, a PE ratio of 36.14, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is currently 28.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other Amphenol news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Amphenol news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 305,000 shares of company stock valued at $31,846,050 over the last 90 days. 2.22% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.00.

Amphenol Profile

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.