Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Monday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.67.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLXS opened at $139.10 on Monday. Plexus has a 1-year low of $102.00 and a 1-year high of $172.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $131.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.72. The company has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.12. Plexus had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 3.60%. The company had revenue of $980.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Plexus’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In other news, insider Michael J. Running sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.05, for a total transaction of $84,012.30. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,931.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.77, for a total value of $65,385.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,224,661.05. This trade represents a 5.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,032 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,222 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Plexus by 72.2% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,128,000 after acquiring an additional 228,027 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Plexus by 120.4% during the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 348,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,655,000 after purchasing an additional 190,360 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Plexus in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $22,975,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Plexus by 19,069.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 170,797 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,884,000 after buying an additional 169,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Plexus by 146.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,824 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,501,000 after acquiring an additional 154,003 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.45% of the company’s stock.

Plexus Company Profile

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.