Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Given New $160.00 Price Target at Benchmark

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Benchmark from $170.00 to $160.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. Benchmark's target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.79% from the stock's previous close.

PLXS has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on Plexus in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.67.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLXS traded down $3.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $122.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 59,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 166,376. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $125.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.38 and a beta of 0.83. Plexus has a fifty-two week low of $99.79 and a fifty-two week high of $172.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $980.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.07 million. Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. The firm's revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Plexus

In other news, insider Michael J. Running sold 1,250 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.62, for a total value of $173,275.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,879.12. This trade represents a 49.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,423 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $496,814.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,281,775.14. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 14,597 shares of company stock worth $2,066,030. Corporate insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Plexus by 1.6% in the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,773 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,637,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Plexus by 185.6% during the 1st quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 514 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $66,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Plexus by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 140,970 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $18,062,000 after purchasing an additional 2,603 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Plexus in the first quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in Plexus by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,708 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,885,000 after buying an additional 454 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Company Profile

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.