Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. Buys 34,078 Shares of Amphenol Corporation $APH

Key Points

• Argonautica Private Wealth Management nearly doubled its Amphenol stake in the third quarter, adding 34,078 shares to reach 68,539 shares valued at about $5.78 million.
• Amphenol’s CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares for approximately $65.9 million, reducing his direct holdings by 17.18%.
• Amphenol beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, while analysts’ consensus remained “Buy” with a $108.32 price target. The company also authorized up to $4 billion in share repurchases and cut its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15 per share.

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 98.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,539 shares of the electronics maker's stock after buying an additional 34,078 shares during the quarter. Amphenol comprises approximately 1.5% of Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Amphenol were worth $5,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Purus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 3.7% in the second quarter. Purus Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,801 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Amphenol by 27.2% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 304 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in Amphenol by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 548 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Amphenol by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,980 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC boosted its stake in Amphenol by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC now owns 14,211 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphenol news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APH has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on Amphenol from $197.00 to $107.00 in a report on Friday, October 30th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research raised Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Amphenol from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphenol presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.32.

Amphenol Stock Performance

APH opened at $71.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization 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 current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Amphenol Corporation has a 1-year low of $59.01 and a 1-year high of $89.93. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.54.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. 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 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

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

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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