Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Shares Gap Up to $61.94

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $61.94, but opened at $65.91. Amphenol shares last traded at $64.24, with a volume of 870,303 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on APH. UBS Group upped their price objective on Amphenol from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $62.50 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Amphenol from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.35.

Amphenol Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.91. The stock has a market cap of $71.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.99, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.39 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 24.08% and a net margin of 15.69%. The company’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is 26.91%.

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

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In other news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 90,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $5,818,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 51,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,323,010. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Amphenol news, insider Luc Walter sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total transaction of $10,897,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 447,790 shares in the company, valued at $28,703,339. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 90,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.65, for a total transaction of $5,818,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 51,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,323,010. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,346,000 shares of company stock worth $87,465,740 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphenol

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APH. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,459,971 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,473,608,000 after purchasing an additional 321,861 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 92.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 36,637,988 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,468,301,000 after purchasing an additional 17,552,921 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 6.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,224,036 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,601,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979,022 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,212,184 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,309,724,000 after purchasing an additional 67,091 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,078,167,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.