Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Reaches New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $121.00 to $136.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amphenol traded as high as $120.22 and last traded at $120.13, with a volume of 326775 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.01.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APH. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,078,167,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,245,014 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,899,059,000 after buying an additional 8,340,759 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 101.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,987,076 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001,901 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,138,110 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,250,181,000 after purchasing an additional 965,951 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 6,323.2% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 978,130 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $96,962,000 after purchasing an additional 962,902 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amphenol Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 2.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The business’s 50-day moving average is $112.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.81. The company has a market capitalization of $72.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.30.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. The company had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 3.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Amphenol’s payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

Amphenol declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to purchase up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.