Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock: Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. Boosts Holdings

Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. raised its holdings in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 22,100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,050 shares during the period. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $1,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APH. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Amphenol in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,927,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd grew its stake in shares of Amphenol by 132.7% during the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 45,599 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,761,000 after purchasing an additional 26,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 193,939 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $24,504,000 after purchasing an additional 43,945 shares in the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 1,118.7% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 39,681 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $5,014,000 after purchasing an additional 36,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amphenol in the 1st quarter valued at $5,637,000. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,855,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $317,961,554.72. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Stock Performance

APH opened at $71.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.54. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The company has a market cap of $177.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Amphenol declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to repurchase $4 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to buy up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a decrease from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on APH shares. Weiss Ratings cut Amphenol from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research raised Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective (up from $112.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $108.32.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH) is a global manufacturer of electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems and related products. Its portfolio includes cable assemblies, sensors, antennas, backplane systems, radio-frequency components and other specialized electronic hardware.

The company serves customers across a range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and defense, information technology and data communications, industrial, mobile networks, commercial aerospace, medical and other markets.