Public Sector Pension Investment Board Boosts Stock Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ: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 shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Free Report) by 26.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 85,720 shares of the technology company's stock after buying an additional 17,926 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.32% of Plexus worth $10,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Plexus in the 1st quarter worth approximately $22,975,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 66.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 211,741 shares of the technology company's stock worth $27,130,000 after purchasing an additional 84,249 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 139.6% in the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 21,139 shares of the technology company's stock worth $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 12,318 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Plexus by 22.8% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 47,997 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $6,150,000 after acquiring an additional 8,921 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd grew its position in Plexus by 458.6% in the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,620 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.45% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In related news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 2,178 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.42, for a total transaction of $284,054.76. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 23,459 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,059,522.78. This represents a 8.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total value of $272,108.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 26,133 shares in the company, valued at $3,455,305.26. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,382 shares of company stock worth $1,482,171. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Plexus Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of PLXS stock traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $130.97. The stock had a trading volume of 103,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 220,885. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.58 and a quick ratio of 0.74. Plexus Corp. has a 12-month low of $103.43 and a 12-month high of $172.89. The firm's 50-day moving average is $132.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.40.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $1.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. Plexus had a return on equity of 12.33% and a net margin of 4.04%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.45 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Plexus Company 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.