Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Shares Down 1.8% – Time to Sell?

Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) was down 1.8% on Friday. The stock traded as low as $76.05 and last traded at $78.1540. Approximately 9,515,326 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 17,111,348 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on APH shares. Wall Street Zen raised Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Amphenol from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $112.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One investment 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 an average price target of $107.00.

Amphenol Stock Down 1.8%

The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.22 and its 200-day moving average is $75.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 42.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This is a negative change from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Amphenol’s payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Amphenol declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to buy back $4 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the electronics maker to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphenol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Amphenol by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,281,059 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $12,107,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,884,641 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Amphenol by 10.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,579,919 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,923,371,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,248 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its position in Amphenol by 3,010.0% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 16,437,431 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,898,248,000 after purchasing an additional 15,908,901 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Amphenol by 4.5% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,703,604 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,710,939,000 after purchasing an additional 416,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Amphenol during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,600,531,000. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

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.