Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Price Target Increased to $138.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) had its target price boosted by UBS Group from $135.00 to $138.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the electronics maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on APH. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup raised their price target on Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a hold rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Amphenol from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $119.72. 126,460 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,837,279. Amphenol has a 12 month low of $72.77 and a 12 month high of $119.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06. The company has a market capitalization of $72.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. Amphenol’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphenol will post 3.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

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

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In related news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphenol

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APH. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol in the fourth quarter worth $1,078,167,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,245,014 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,899,059,000 after purchasing an additional 8,340,759 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Amphenol by 101.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,987,076 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,901 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Amphenol by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,138,110 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,250,181,000 after acquiring an additional 965,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Amphenol by 6,323.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 978,130 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $96,962,000 after acquiring an additional 962,902 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.