Machina Capital S.A.S. Sells 9,052 Shares of Amphenol Corporation $APH

Machina Capital S.A.S. trimmed its holdings in shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 29.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,275 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 9,052 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $1,793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DSG Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Amphenol by 113.2% during the 3rd quarter. DSG Capital Advisors LLC now owns 54,523 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,596,000 after acquiring an additional 28,944 shares in the last quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 108.9% during the third quarter. Silver Grove Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,539 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,845 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 100.0% during the third quarter. Davis Investment Partners LLC now owns 117,352 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $9,893,000 after purchasing an additional 58,688 shares in the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 92.0% during the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 143,622 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $12,107,000 after purchasing an additional 68,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Trust Co. N.A. lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 115.6% during the third quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 69,056 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,821,000 after purchasing an additional 37,028 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $102.00 price objective on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Amphenol from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $107.00.

Amphenol Price Performance

APH stock opened at $79.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.60. The company has a market capitalization of $197.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. Amphenol’s quarterly revenue was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Analysts predict that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a drop from Amphenol’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Amphenol’s payout ratio is presently 21.74%.

Amphenol declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, October 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the electronics maker to reacquire up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $65,949,028.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $317,961,554.72. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Profile

Amphenol Corporation designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and sensor products. Its offerings also include cable assemblies and related components used to transmit signals and power in electronic equipment and systems. The company serves customers in a range of markets, including communications and information technology, automotive, aerospace and defense, industrial, mobile devices and data networks. Its products are used in applications such as vehicles, communications infrastructure, commercial aircraft and industrial equipment.