AIA Group Ltd Purchases 339,426 Shares of Amphenol Corporation $APH

Key Points

• AIA Group increased its Amphenol stake by 128.2% in the third quarter, buying 339,426 shares to bring its holdings to 604,277 shares, valued at about $50.9 million.
• Amphenol reported quarterly revenue of $10.23 billion and EPS of $0.80, beating analyst estimates; revenue rose 65.1% year over year. The company also authorized up to $4 billion in stock buybacks.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Buy” rating with an average price target of $108.32. Amphenol cut its quarterly dividend to $0.15 per share from $0.25.

AIA Group Ltd lifted its position in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 128.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 604,277 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 339,426 shares during the quarter. Amphenol comprises about 0.6% of AIA Group Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Amphenol were worth $50,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Amphenol by 24.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,281,059 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $12,107,146,000 after acquiring an additional 13,884,641 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,579,919 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,923,371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,248 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 3,010.0% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 16,437,431 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,898,248,000 after acquiring an additional 15,908,901 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 9,703,604 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,710,939,000 after acquiring an additional 416,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,600,531,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock opened at $71.73 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $177.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $81.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.54. Amphenol Corporation has a one year low of $59.01 and a one year high of $89.93.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.93 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to buy back $4 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to repurchase up to 2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. This is a negative change from Amphenol's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $65,949,028.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,855,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,961,554.72. This represents a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APH. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised shares of Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $99.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. One research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $108.32.

Amphenol Company Profile

Amphenol Corporation NYSE: APH is a global manufacturer of electrical, electronic and fiber-optic connectors, interconnect systems and related products. Its portfolio includes cable assemblies, sensors, antennas, backplane systems, radio-frequency components and other specialized electronic hardware.

The company serves customers across a range of industries, including automotive, aerospace and defense, information technology and data communications, industrial, mobile networks, commercial aerospace, medical and other markets.

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