Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Reduces Stock Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lowered its stake in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 705,148 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 6,919 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Amphenol worth $48,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 23,532 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in Amphenol by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 787 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,824 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphenol by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,483 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,219 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on APH. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price (up previously from $78.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Amphenol from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 126,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $10,115,280.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Luc Walter sold 390,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total transaction of $29,604,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 447,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,991,738.90. The trade was a 46.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,178,500 shares of company stock worth $241,903,805. 1.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:APH opened at $80.78 on Friday. Amphenol Co. has a 12 month low of $54.77 and a 12 month high of $81.82. The stock has a market cap of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $68.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. The firm had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. Amphenol’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 32.04%.

About Amphenol

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.