Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Grows Position

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 95.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 492,281 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 240,603 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $41,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 85.0% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 198 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP boosted its stake in Amphenol by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 831.2% during the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 298 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Sunrise Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 100.0% during the third quarter. Sunrise Financial Services LLC now owns 324 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NFSG Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Amphenol in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the firm’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 owned 3,855,014 shares in the company, valued at $317,961,554.72. This trade represents a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on APH. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Amphenol in a report on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Amphenol Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of APH opened at $79.32 on Thursday. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.59. The company has a market capitalization of $195.85 billion, a PE ratio of 34.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 42.53%. The firm had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. Amphenol’s quarterly revenue was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

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

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a negative change from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 21.74%.

About Amphenol

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.