Gradient Investments LLC Takes $17.59 Million Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 253,236 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $17,587,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Amphenol by 50.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in Amphenol by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,824 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Amphenol by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,505 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $294,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.92.

Amphenol Trading Down 1.9 %

APH stock opened at $77.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.93. Amphenol Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.38 and a fifty-two week high of $79.39.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4,051,810 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.46%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David M. Silverman sold 180,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.84, for a total transaction of $12,391,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $963,760. The trade was a 92.78 % 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, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.76, for a total value of $10,314,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 218,116 shares in the company, valued at $14,997,656.16. The trade was a 40.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,842,672 shares of company stock valued at $128,858,080 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.