Advisory Alpha LLC Cuts Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Advisory Alpha LLC reduced its position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 67.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,836 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 7,792 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Amphenol were worth $252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Amphenol in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,378,794,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 18,619,417 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Amphenol by 36.8% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 15,837,407 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 619.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,014,111 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $487,130,000 after acquiring an additional 6,039,845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 7,256,290 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $503,975,000 after acquiring an additional 3,933,269 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In other news, VP Lance E. D'amico sold 175,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.28, for a total value of $13,349,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 51,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,920,792. This trade represents a 77.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Luc Walter sold 286,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.43, for a total transaction of $26,148,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 451,790 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,307,159.70. This trade represents a 38.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,764,500 shares of company stock worth $294,839,785. Company insiders own 1.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on APH. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Amphenol from $88.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 27th. 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. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $86.31.

Amphenol Stock Performance

APH stock traded up $0.56 on Thursday, hitting $92.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,686,187 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,480,420. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $76.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.09. Amphenol Co. has a 1 year low of $54.77 and a 1 year high of $93.33. The stock has a market cap of $111.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.37, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Amphenol Announces Dividend

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 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.