Amphenol Corporation $APH Stock Purchased by Rakuten Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management increased its Amphenol stake by 119.8% in the third quarter, adding 241,302 shares to reach 442,675 shares valued at about $37.3 million.
• Amphenol reported quarterly EPS of $0.80, beating the $0.73 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 65.1% year over year to $10.23 billion.
• The company authorized a $4 billion share buyback, while reducing its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15 per share.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 119.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 442,675 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 241,302 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Amphenol were worth $37,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Amphenol Stock Down 9.2%

APH stock opened at $71.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.54. The company has a market capitalization of $177.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.19, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.27. Amphenol Corporation has a twelve month low of $59.01 and a twelve month high of $89.93.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 0.8%. This is a negative change from Amphenol's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. Amphenol's payout ratio is 21.74%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on APH shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $190.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $107.50 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $108.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.48, for a total value of $65,949,028.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,855,014 shares of the company's stock, valued at $317,961,554.72. The trade was a 17.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 1.42% of the company's stock.

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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