Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock Bought by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group nearly doubled its Amphenol stake in the third quarter, adding 1.44 million shares to hold about 2.90 million shares valued at $244.4 million. Several other institutional investors also increased their positions.
• Amphenol reported quarterly earnings of $0.80 per share and revenue of $10.23 billion, both above analyst expectations; revenue rose 65.1% year over year. The company also authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program.
• The company cut its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15 per share. Separately, CEO Richard Norwitt sold about 800,000 shares, reducing his direct stake by 17.18%.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 98.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,899,467 shares of the electronics maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,440,991 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned about 0.12% of Amphenol worth $244,425,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 224.8% during the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 11,170 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 7,731 shares during the period. Compass Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Amphenol by 90.8% during the third quarter. Compass Capital Management Inc. now owns 940,711 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $79,302,000 after acquiring an additional 447,625 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. grew its position in Amphenol by 243.4% during the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,822 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,418 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Amphenol by 101.2% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 3,087,928 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $260,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 528.0% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 70,968 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $5,983,000 after purchasing an additional 59,668 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

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

Amphenol Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of APH stock opened at $78.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $192.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $81.22 and its 200-day moving average is $75.57. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 company had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.83 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, October 28th that permits the company to buy back $4 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to buy up to 2% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their target price on shares of Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Evercore set a $100.00 target price on Amphenol in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $107.00.

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.

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