California State Teachers Retirement System Reduces Stock Position in Amphenol Corporation $APH

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Amphenol stake by 2.2%, selling 42,331 shares and retaining 1.88 million shares valued at approximately $236.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 97.01% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains strongly positive: Amphenol has an average “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $186, with several firms recently raising their targets to between $185 and $200.
• Amphenol reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.06 beating estimates and revenue rising 58.4% year over year to $7.62 billion. Shares opened at $143.82, while the company continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.25, yielding about 0.7%.

California State Teachers Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,875,034 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 42,331 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Amphenol worth $236,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of APH. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its position in shares of Amphenol by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 87,072 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $11,767,000 after acquiring an additional 14,612 shares in the last quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 86.3% during the fourth quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 26,986 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $3,647,000 after acquiring an additional 12,502 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Amphenol by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,750,490 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $371,704,000 after purchasing an additional 70,938 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Amphenol by 110.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 18,689 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,526,000 after purchasing an additional 9,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tema Etfs LLC lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 65.8% in the 4th quarter. Tema Etfs LLC now owns 110,655 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $14,954,000 after purchasing an additional 43,931 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphenol from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $195.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Amphenol in a report on Monday, July 13th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $195.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Amphenol from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Amphenol from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $186.00.

Amphenol Stock Down 3.7%

Shares of NYSE:APH opened at $143.82 on Wednesday. Amphenol Corporation has a 1 year low of $102.76 and a 1 year high of $178.52. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $153.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.33, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.24.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The electronics maker reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.11. Amphenol had a net margin of 17.24% and a return on equity of 37.44%. The company had revenue of $7.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. Amphenol's revenue for the quarter was up 58.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Amphenol Corporation will post 4.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 23rd were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 23rd. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.21, for a total value of $2,506,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,927,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $276,038,277.47. This trade represents a 0.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 130,775 shares of company stock valued at $18,709,350 over the last ninety days. 1.42% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Amphenol Company Profile

Amphenol Corporation NYSE: APH is a leading global manufacturer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, interconnect systems, and related components. The company designs, engineers and produces a broad range of products including electrical connectors, cable assemblies, fiber optic solutions, sensors, antennas and electromechanical devices used to transfer power, signal and data across complex systems. Its product portfolio spans ruggedized connectors for harsh environments to high-speed solutions for data centers and telecommunications networks.

Amphenol serves a diverse set of end markets, including automotive, broadband and telecom, data communications, mobile devices, industrial, energy, and military/aerospace.

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