Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Cuts Stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp cut its stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,044 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 1,710 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $5,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APH. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in Amphenol during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,589,000. West Coast Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Amphenol by 65.0% during the 4th quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 128,911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $12,779,000 after buying an additional 50,778 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Amphenol by 63.4% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,264 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $3,793,000 after acquiring an additional 14,843 shares during the last quarter. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in Amphenol in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,875,000. Finally, Fortune Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth about $1,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,692,075. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on APH. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Amphenol from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Amphenol from $118.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.67.

Amphenol Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of APH stock traded up $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $116.52. The stock had a trading volume of 660,885 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,823,291. Amphenol Co. has a 12-month low of $72.00 and a 12-month high of $119.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $111.48 and a 200 day moving average of $99.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.17 and a quick ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market cap of $70.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.36% and a return on equity of 23.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.69 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 3.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.30%.

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.