MQS Management LLC Acquires New Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,149 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Plexus by 45.5% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Plexus by 4.8% in the first quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,315 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Plexus by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,907 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $924,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Plexus by 134.0% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Plexus by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 13,846 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $2,167,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Trading Up 0.2%

Plexus stock traded up $0.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $134.77. 89,474 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 174,845. Plexus Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $103.43 and a fifty-two week high of $172.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.12. Plexus had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The firm had revenue of $980.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $980.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Plexus's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLXS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plexus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other Plexus news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 4,328 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.29, for a total transaction of $572,551.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 25,637 shares in the company, valued at $3,391,518.73. This trade represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.87, for a total transaction of $194,805.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 75,214 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,768,042.18. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 12,032 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,222. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. provides electronic manufacturing services in the United States and internationally. It offers design, develop, supply chain, new product introduction, and manufacturing solutions, as well as sustaining services to companies in the healthcare/life sciences, industrial/commercial, aerospace/defense, and communications market sectors.