Everence Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Everence Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 43.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,972 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 4,670 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APH. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amphenol by 95,441.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,868,807 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,055,971,000 after buying an additional 13,854,291 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amphenol in the fourth quarter valued at $653,884,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Amphenol by 44.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,811,475 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $823,186,000 after buying an additional 3,310,939 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 55.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,376,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $199,616,000 after purchasing an additional 845,637 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 21.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,090,708 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $343,579,000 after purchasing an additional 729,849 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on APH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Amphenol from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on Amphenol from $118.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Amphenol from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.00.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:APH opened at $111.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $67.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Amphenol Co. has a 52 week low of $72.00 and a 52 week high of $119.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.26.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 3.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 28.30%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. Company insiders own 2.22% of the company’s stock.

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.