Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,865,100 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 49,600 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.31% of Amphenol worth $184,887,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APH. Fisher Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth $789,000. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. purchased a new stake in Amphenol during the 4th quarter valued at about $234,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its holdings in Amphenol by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,561 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,939,000 after acquiring an additional 1,768 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 49,793 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:APH traded up $1.65 on Friday, reaching $122.65. 3,279,405 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,911,420. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27. Amphenol Co. has a 52-week low of $72.77 and a 52-week high of $123.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.27 and a 200-day moving average of $100.73.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.91%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on APH. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Amphenol from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphenol has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Amphenol news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total value of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares in the company, valued at $15,391,200.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,000 shares of company stock worth $14,251,050. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.