Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Monday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PLXS. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.50.

Plexus Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of PLXS traded up $3.08 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $156.21. The company had a trading volume of 234,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,350. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a PE ratio of 38.96 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $140.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.81. Plexus has a 1-year low of $90.18 and a 1-year high of $169.41.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 2.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Plexus will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.02, for a total value of $64,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,199.72. This trade represents a 4.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael J. Running sold 579 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $89,125.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,516.17. This trade represents a 26.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 33,552 shares of company stock worth $5,250,872. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Plexus by 0.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 653,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,392,000 after acquiring an additional 4,926 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 2.8% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,168,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $296,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,465 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 139.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 28,406 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Plexus during the third quarter worth about $286,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Plexus during the third quarter worth about $2,580,000. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Company Profile

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.