PC Connection (NASDAQ:CNXN) Hits New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

PC Connection, Inc. (NASDAQ:CNXN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $93.94 and last traded at $94.1650, with a volume of 11,891 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $92.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded PC Connection from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of PC Connection from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, PC Connection currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

PC Connection Stock Up 0.6%

The company has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.06.

PC Connection (NASDAQ:CNXN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $854.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $764.79 million. PC Connection had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 10.90%. Analysts forecast that PC Connection, Inc. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

PC Connection Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 11th. PC Connection’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other PC Connection news, Director David Beffa-Negrini sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total transaction of $405,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,875 shares in the company, valued at $4,933,918.75. This represents a 7.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Patricia Gallup sold 7,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $610,069.64. Following the sale, the chairman owned 6,934,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $592,379,243.42. This represents a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 46,940 shares of company stock worth $3,992,261 in the last quarter. 56.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PC Connection

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in PC Connection during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $158,833,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in PC Connection by 0.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,526,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,237,000 after buying an additional 4,345 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in PC Connection in the second quarter valued at approximately $9,982,000. Denali Advisors LLC lifted its position in PC Connection by 19.1% during the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 99,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,241,000 after buying an additional 15,900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc acquired a new position in PC Connection during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,925,000. 42.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About PC Connection

PC Connection, Inc is an information technology solutions provider that supplies computer hardware, software, networking equipment, peripherals and related technology products to organizations in the United States. The company serves businesses, government agencies and educational institutions through its Connection brand and online and sales channels.

In addition to product distribution, PC Connection provides technology services designed to help customers plan, deploy and manage IT environments.