Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Sets New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $93.90 and last traded at $93.05, with a volume of 2075410 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APH shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Fox Advisors upgraded shares of Amphenol from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphenol presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.00.

Amphenol Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $114.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.66.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Amphenol's payout ratio is 32.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael R. Ivas sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.79, for a total value of $3,551,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 152,412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,532,661.48. This trade represents a 20.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.73, for a total transaction of $151,460,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,002,507 shares in the company, valued at $151,649,855.11. This trade represents a 49.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,764,500 shares of company stock worth $294,839,785. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphenol

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APH. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 154,998,780 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $10,166,370,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870,933 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 104,250,575 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $7,240,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,752 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 36.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,325,653 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,754,672,000 after purchasing an additional 659,560 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Amphenol by 294.0% in 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 during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amphenol Company 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.