Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $100.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amphenol traded as high as $88.24 and last traded at $87.93, with a volume of 1402171 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.55.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. US Capital Advisors set a $85.00 target price on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $72.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 target price (up from $78.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Fox Advisors raised shares of Amphenol from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $85.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.73, for a total value 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 represents a 49.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 126,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $10,115,280.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,178,500 shares of company stock worth $241,903,805 over the last three months. 1.67% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphenol

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the first quarter worth $25,000. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 328.9% during the fourth quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 386 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 133.3% during the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 406 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company's stock.

Amphenol Trading Up 0.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock's 50-day moving average is $73.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.30. The stock has a market cap of $106.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

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.