Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $10.98 Million Stake in Plexus Corp. $PLXS

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in Plexus Corp. by 26.4%, owning 85,720 shares worth approximately $10.98 million at the end of the most recent quarter.
• Insider selling activity included CEO Todd P. Kelsey and CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr., who collectively sold over 4,000 shares at prices around $132, reducing their stakes in the company.
• Plexus Corp. reported a quarterly earnings of $1.90 EPS, surpassing estimates and achieving a revenue increase of 6% year-over-year, with a market cap of $3.66 billion.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,720 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,926 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.32% of Plexus worth $10,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Plexus by 170.5% in the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 8,508 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,331,000 after buying an additional 5,363 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter valued at $928,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN lifted its stake in shares of Plexus by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 55,493 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $8,684,000 after acquiring an additional 926 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 57,182 shares of the technology company's stock worth $8,948,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter worth $15,892,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.45% of the company's stock.

Plexus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLXS traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $131.67. 25,861 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 180,584. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.58. Plexus Corp. has a 52 week low of $103.43 and a 52 week high of $172.89. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $132.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.31.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.71 by $0.19. Plexus had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 4.04%. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.45 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In related news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 2,178 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.42, for a total transaction of $284,054.76. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 23,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,059,522.78. This trade represents a 8.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael J. Running sold 646 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.05, for a total value of $84,012.30. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,931.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,382 shares of company stock worth $1,482,171. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Plexus from $162.00 to $158.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen cut Plexus from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $140.00 price target on Plexus in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Sidoti upgraded Plexus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $135.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $152.00.

Plexus Profile

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.