Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 3,931,907 Shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lowered its stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 91.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 371,308 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,931,907 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $25,787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Amphenol in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,378,794,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 294.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 24,953,591 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,733,027,000 after purchasing an additional 18,619,417 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 58,911,813 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $4,091,426,000 after purchasing an additional 15,837,407 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 619.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,014,111 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $487,130,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,256,290 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $503,975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,933,269 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 400,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.93, for a total value of $30,372,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,593,000. This represents a 80.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 126,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $10,115,280.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,178,500 shares of company stock valued at $241,903,805. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on APH shares. TD Securities lifted their price target on Amphenol from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Fox Advisors raised Amphenol from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Amphenol from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. US Capital Advisors set a $85.00 price objective on Amphenol in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Amphenol from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $81.62.

Amphenol Stock Performance

NYSE:APH opened at $80.78 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $68.09 and a 200 day moving average of $69.84. The company has a market capitalization of $97.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Amphenol Co. has a 1-year low of $54.77 and a 1-year high of $84.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. Amphenol’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.40 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.04%.

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.