Wall Street Zen Upgrades Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) to “Strong-Buy”

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Monday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.67.

Plexus Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of PLXS stock opened at $135.31 on Monday. Plexus has a fifty-two week low of $101.64 and a fifty-two week high of $172.89. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $980.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. Plexus had a return on equity of 11.17% and a net margin of 3.60%. Plexus’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In related news, insider Michael J. Running sold 646 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.05, for a total value of $84,012.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,931.50. This represents a 50.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 4,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.29, for a total transaction of $572,551.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,518.73. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 12,032 shares of company stock worth $1,582,222. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Plexus by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Plexus by 45.5% during the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in Plexus by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in Plexus during the first quarter worth approximately $71,000. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Plexus

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.