Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Acquires Shares of 2,104 Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,104 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,500,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,661,480,000 after purchasing an additional 691,964 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Amphenol by 4.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,279,911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,283,360,000 after buying an additional 653,354 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 564,110 shares in the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 151,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 351,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APH has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Amphenol from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Amphenol from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphenol currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Amphenol Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of APH traded up $1.48 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $120.49. The stock had a trading volume of 4,172,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,887,212. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. Amphenol Co. has a 1-year low of $72.77 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 23.85% and a net margin of 15.87%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

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

Amphenol declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the electronics maker to repurchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total value of $10,467,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Profile

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.