460,897 Amphenol Corporation $APH Shares Acquired by Fifth Third Bancorp

Key Points

• Fifth Third Bancorp increased its Amphenol stake by 93.2%, adding 460,897 shares in the third quarter to own 955,401 shares valued at about $80.5 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds held 97.01% of the company’s stock.
• Amphenol reported quarterly earnings of $0.80 per share, beating the $0.73 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 65.1% year over year to $10.23 billion.
• The company authorized a $4 billion share buyback but reduced its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15 per share. CEO Richard Norwitt also sold 799,576 shares.

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 93.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 955,401 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 460,897 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp's holdings in Amphenol were worth $80,540,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FDx Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Amphenol by 82.5% in the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 3,022 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the last quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 100.0% during the third quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its stake in Amphenol by 100.7% during the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 60,600 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,109,000 after purchasing an additional 30,400 shares in the last quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 100.0% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 122,320 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $10,312,000 after buying an additional 61,160 shares during the period. Finally, Bingham Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 128.9% during the third quarter. Bingham Private Wealth LLC now owns 6,657 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $561,000 after buying an additional 3,749 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $317,961,554.72. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Amphenol Price Performance

Amphenol stock opened at $79.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The firm has a market cap of $197.07 billion, a PE ratio of 34.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day moving average is $81.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.60.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. Amphenol had a net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 42.53%. The business had revenue of $10.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to buy back $4 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a drop from Amphenol's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore set a $100.00 price objective on Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Amphenol in a research note on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Amphenol from $175.00 to $90.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Barclays lifted their target price on Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $107.00.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation designs, manufactures and markets electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems, antennas and sensor products. Its offerings also include cable assemblies and related components used to transmit signals and power in electronic equipment and systems. The company serves customers in a range of markets, including communications and information technology, automotive, aerospace and defense, industrial, mobile devices and data networks. Its products are used in applications such as vehicles, communications infrastructure, commercial aircraft and industrial equipment.

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