Axa S.A. Decreases Stock Position in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE)

AXA S.A. decreased its position in Benchmark Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:BHE - Free Report) by 91.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,600 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 60,600 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in Benchmark Electronics were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BHE. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Benchmark Electronics during the fourth quarter valued at $50,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Benchmark Electronics by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,151 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 617 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Benchmark Electronics by 94.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 4,693 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 2,278 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Benchmark Electronics by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,100 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $232,000 after buying an additional 495 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments purchased a new position in Benchmark Electronics during the fourth quarter valued at $242,000. Institutional investors own 92.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on BHE. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. StockNews.com lowered Benchmark Electronics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Lake Street Capital lowered their price objective on Benchmark Electronics from $52.00 to $46.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Benchmark Electronics

In related news, CEO Jeff Benck sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.82, for a total value of $232,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 448,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,398,347.60. The trade was a 1.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.20% of the company's stock.

Benchmark Electronics Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of BHE traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.30. The company had a trading volume of 58,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 326,963. Benchmark Electronics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.73 and a 52-week high of $52.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 2.32.

Benchmark Electronics (NYSE:BHE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The technology company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. Benchmark Electronics had a return on equity of 6.68% and a net margin of 2.38%. The company had revenue of $631.76 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $640.00 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. Benchmark Electronics's revenue for the quarter was down 6.5% on a year-over-year basis.

Benchmark Electronics Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Benchmark Electronics's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.90%.

About Benchmark Electronics

Benchmark Electronics, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, offers product design, engineering services, technology solutions, and manufacturing services in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The company provides engineering services and technology solutions, including new product design, prototype, testing, and related engineering services; and custom testing and technology solutions, as well as automation equipment design and build services.