Empowered Funds LLC Increases Stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 160.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,840 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,416 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $8,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Amphenol by 89.5% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 4,303,215 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $280,397,000 after buying an additional 2,032,402 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Amphenol in the 3rd quarter worth about $113,828,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 3.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 53,534,216 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,496,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,537,880 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 151.7% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,210,672 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $144,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,332,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Amphenol by 157.2% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,932,159 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $125,899,000 after purchasing an additional 1,180,944 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on APH shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Amphenol from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.68.

Amphenol Price Performance

NYSE APH opened at $71.75 on Tuesday. Amphenol Co. has a 12-month low of $51.13 and a 12-month high of $79.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.23.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. Amphenol’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.55%.

Amphenol 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.