D.A. Davidson & CO. Purchases 24,728 Shares of Amphenol Corporation $APH

Key Points

• D.A. Davidson increased its Amphenol stake by 204.8% in the third quarter, buying 24,728 shares to reach 36,800 shares valued at about $3.1 million.
• Amphenol beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 65.1% year over year; analysts’ average rating is “Buy,” with a consensus price target of $108.32.
• The company authorized a $4 billion share-repurchase program, but also cut its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.15. CEO Richard Norwitt sold about $65.9 million in shares, reducing his position by 17.18%.

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Amphenol Corporation (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 204.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 36,800 shares of the electronics maker's stock after acquiring an additional 24,728 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Amphenol were worth $3,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Amphenol by 24.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 71,281,059 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $12,107,146,000 after purchasing an additional 13,884,641 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 10.5% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,579,919 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $2,923,371,000 after buying an additional 1,578,248 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 3,010.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 15,908,901 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% in the 2nd 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 valued at $1,710,939,000 after acquiring an additional 416,388 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in Amphenol during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,600,531,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Amphenol from $107.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $116.00 price objective (up from $102.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Amphenol from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of Amphenol in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Amphenol from $105.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphenol presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $108.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In related news, CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer 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 transaction 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 corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Amphenol

Here are the key news stories impacting Amphenol this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AI data-center demand and recent record sales are key growth drivers. Amphenol’s latest quarter beat earnings and revenue estimates, with revenue up 65.1% year over year; a recent deep dive also highlighted AI demand and acquisitions as supports for its outlook. Article: APH Q3 deep dive
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays forecast further price appreciation for APH, while Evercore named Amphenol among technology stocks to own following the U.S. election. These recommendations support the bullish case, though the supplied reports do not provide details of the analysts’ rationale or targets. Article: Barclays outlook Article: Evercore technology-stock picks
• Positive Sentiment: A newly authorized $4 billion share-repurchase program could support shareholder returns and signal confidence in the business. Article: Buyback capacity
• Neutral Sentiment: A report raised the possibility that a new partnership could strengthen Amphenol’s role in AI infrastructure, but the available details do not establish the partnership’s terms or financial impact. Article: Amphenol and AI infrastructure partnership
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Richard Norwitt sold 799,576 shares for about $65.9 million, reducing his direct stake by 17.18%. He retained roughly 3.86 million shares, but the sizable sale may concern investors. Article: CEO share sale
• Negative Sentiment: Amphenol has been caught in a broader AI-stock sell-off despite strong orders and growth across data-center suppliers, which can pressure shares independently of company fundamentals. Article: AI stocks and data-center spending

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of APH stock opened at $79.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $195.30 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Amphenol Corporation has a 52-week low of $59.01 and a 52-week high of $89.93.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $10.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 42.53% and a net margin of 17.95%. Amphenol's revenue for the quarter was up 65.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Amphenol Corporation will post 2.84 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 22nd. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a drop from Amphenol's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.74%.

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

About Amphenol

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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