Amphenol (NYSE:APH) CEO Sells 799,576 Shares of Stock

Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $317,961,554.72. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Amphenol Stock Performance

APH traded up $4.27 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $84.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 15,385,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,099,953. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $81.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.50. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The company has a market capitalization of $207.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.23.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 42.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This is a negative change from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphenol

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APH. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amphenol in the second quarter worth $1,927,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd raised its position 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 valued at $5,761,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares in the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 43,945 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new stake in Amphenol during the first quarter worth about $5,637,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1,118.7% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Amphenol in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. One research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $108.32.

Amphenol Company Profile

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.