Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock: AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Raises Holdings

Key Points

• AEGON Asset Management UK increased its Amphenol stake by 237.1% in the third quarter, adding 631,520 shares to hold 897,841 shares valued at about $75.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.01% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly positive: 18 rate the stock Buy or Strong Buy, and the consensus price target is $108.32. Amphenol’s latest quarterly results beat estimates, with revenue up 65.1% year over year.
• Amphenol authorized a $4 billion share repurchase plan but reduced its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15 per share. CEO Richard Norwitt also sold about 800,000 shares.

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 237.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 897,841 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 631,520 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Amphenol were worth $75,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 13,884,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Amphenol by 10.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,579,919 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $2,923,371,000 after buying an additional 1,578,248 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 15,908,901 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% in the second 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 worth $1,710,939,000 after purchasing an additional 416,388 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the second quarter worth about $1,600,531,000. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $102.00 price target on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Amphenol from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $108.32.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of APH opened at $80.89 on Tuesday. Amphenol Corporation has a 52 week low of $59.01 and a 52 week high of $89.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $199.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. The business's 50 day moving average price is $81.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.55.

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

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 22nd will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This is a negative change from Amphenol's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

Amphenol announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to buy back $4 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total transaction of $65,949,028.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amphenol Company 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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