Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Boosts Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 228.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 110,298 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,724 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $10,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,500,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,661,480,000 after purchasing an additional 691,964 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Amphenol by 4.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,279,911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,283,360,000 after buying an additional 653,354 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Amphenol by 4.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,145,093 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,104,056,000 after buying an additional 564,110 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its stake in Amphenol by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 7,908,317 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $664,220,000 after acquiring an additional 151,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,195,739 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $520,380,000 after acquiring an additional 351,353 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on APH shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total value of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,075. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total value of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,075. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,000 shares of company stock worth $14,251,050. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amphenol Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of Amphenol stock traded up $1.65 on Friday, hitting $122.65. The stock had a trading volume of 3,279,405 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,911,420. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. Amphenol Co. has a one year low of $72.77 and a one year high of $123.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.73. The stock has a market cap of $73.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. 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 return on equity of 23.85% and a net margin of 15.87%. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. Amphenol’s revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.91%.

Amphenol declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Amphenol Company Profile

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.