PGGM Investments Sells 2,863 Shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

PGGM Investments lowered its holdings in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,986 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 2,863 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in Amphenol were worth $10,011,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,500,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,661,480,000 after purchasing an additional 691,964 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,279,911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,283,360,000 after purchasing an additional 653,354 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in Amphenol by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,145,093 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,104,056,000 after buying an additional 564,110 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its stake in Amphenol by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 7,908,317 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $664,220,000 after buying an additional 151,058 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Amphenol by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,195,739 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $520,380,000 after buying an additional 351,353 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In related news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Amphenol news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total value of $1,571,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. Insiders sold 305,000 shares of company stock valued at $31,846,050 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Amphenol from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock traded up $1.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $120.49. 4,172,919 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,505,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $112.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.81. Amphenol Co. has a twelve month low of $72.77 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Amphenol Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

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.