Amphenol Corporation $APH Holdings Increased by CenterBook Partners LP

Key Points

• CenterBook Partners increased its Amphenol stake 650.8% in the third quarter, ending with 36,964 shares worth about $3.12 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively owned 97.01% of the stock.
• Amphenol reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, beating estimates of $0.73, while revenue of $10.23 billion topped forecasts and rose 65.1% year over year.
• The company cut its quarterly dividend to $0.15 from $0.25 and authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase plan. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Buy,” with an average price target of $108.32.

CenterBook Partners LP lifted its stake in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 650.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,964 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 32,041 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Amphenol were worth $3,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Amphenol during the second quarter worth $1,927,000. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Evelyn Partners Investment Management Services Ltd now owns 45,599 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,761,000 after buying an additional 26,000 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 29.3% in the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 193,939 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $24,504,000 after buying an additional 43,945 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amphenol in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,637,000. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Amphenol by 1,118.7% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 39,681 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $5,014,000 after buying an additional 36,425 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amphenol Stock Up 4.2%

APH stock opened at $74.67 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 fifty-two week low of $59.01 and a fifty-two week high of $89.93. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $81.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.53. The stock has a market cap of $184.39 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 17.95% and a return on equity of 42.53%. Amphenol's quarterly revenue was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased 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. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price (up from $112.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, October 29th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of Amphenol in a report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Evercore set a $100.00 price target on Amphenol in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $108.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,855,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $317,961,554.72. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

Amphenol Profile

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.

Founded in 1932, Amphenol has grown into a global manufacturer serving customers across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

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