Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock: Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Grows Position

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lifted its position in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH) by 149.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,020,688 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 611,054 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $86,044,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APH. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Amphenol during the second quarter worth $1,927,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd increased its stake in shares of Amphenol by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 45,599 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,761,000 after acquiring an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1,118.7% in the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 39,681 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $5,014,000 after acquiring an additional 36,425 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the 1st quarter worth $5,637,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 29.3% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 193,939 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $24,504,000 after acquiring an additional 43,945 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares in the company, valued at $317,961,554.72. This trade represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Amphenol Price Performance

NYSE:APH opened at $71.73 on Friday. Amphenol Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.01 and a 52 week high of $89.93. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $81.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.54. The company has a market capitalization of $177.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. 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 (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. The company’s revenue was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

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

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $108.32.

Amphenol Profile

Amphenol Corporation (NYSE: APH) is a global manufacturer of electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems and related products. Its portfolio includes cable assemblies, sensors, antennas, backplane systems, radio-frequency components and other specialized electronic hardware.

The company serves customers across a range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and defense, information technology and data communications, industrial, mobile networks, commercial aerospace, medical and other markets.