Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock Position Increased by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. grew its holdings in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 94.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 196,262 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 95,333 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $16,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 85.0% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 198 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP boosted its holdings in Amphenol by 100.0% in the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 300 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Amphenol by 831.2% in the third quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 298 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Sunrise Financial Services LLC grew its position in Amphenol by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sunrise Financial Services LLC now owns 324 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, NFSG Corp acquired a new stake in Amphenol during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APH opened at $74.67 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.53. Amphenol Corporation has a 1 year low of $59.01 and a 1 year high of $89.93. The company has a market capitalization of $184.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that allows the company to buy back $4 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the electronics maker to reacquire up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $317,961,554.72. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on APH. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 target price (up from $102.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Amphenol in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $108.32.

Amphenol Profile

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.

Founded in 1932, Amphenol has grown into a global manufacturer serving customers across the Americas, Europe and Asia.