Martingale Asset Management L P Buys 1,911 Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,515 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,911 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P owned about 0.12% of Plexus worth $4,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLXS. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the fourth quarter worth about $107,489,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,128,000 after acquiring an additional 228,027 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 146.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,501,000 after acquiring an additional 154,003 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 1,875.1% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 137,466 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,511,000 after acquiring an additional 130,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the fourth quarter worth about $15,892,000. Institutional investors own 94.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on PLXS. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Plexus in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.00.

Plexus Stock Performance

PLXS opened at $124.45 on Thursday. Plexus Corp. has a 12-month low of $92.72 and a 12-month high of $172.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.94 and a 200-day moving average of $145.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 3,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.57, for a total transaction of $485,899.77. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,745 shares in the company, valued at $2,999,104.65. The trade was a 13.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,423 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $496,814.22. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares in the company, valued at $4,281,775.14. This represents a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,958 shares of company stock worth $2,551,930. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Plexus Profile

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.