Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 47,075 Shares of Amdocs Limited $DOX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group cut its Amdocs stake by 6.8% in Q1, selling 47,075 shares and leaving it with 646,569 shares worth about $42.2 million.
• Amdocs reported mixed but solid quarterly results: EPS of $1.78 topped estimates by a penny, while revenue of $1.17 billion matched expectations and rose 3.9% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.569 per share, implying an annualized yield of 4.3%, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average price target of $86.67.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in Amdocs Limited (NASDAQ:DOX - Free Report) by 6.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 646,569 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 47,075 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.60% of Amdocs worth $42,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pzena Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amdocs by 82.6% in the 4th quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 12,037,015 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $969,100,000 after purchasing an additional 5,443,766 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its holdings in Amdocs by 155.1% in the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,110,393 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $169,908,000 after buying an additional 1,283,231 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Amdocs by 24.0% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,892,761 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $232,903,000 after buying an additional 560,380 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its stake in Amdocs by 469.4% in the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 543,875 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,787,000 after acquiring an additional 448,358 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Amdocs by 501.1% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 520,494 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $41,905,000 after acquiring an additional 433,907 shares during the last quarter. 92.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amdocs Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ DOX opened at $52.63 on Friday. Amdocs Limited has a 52-week low of $49.79 and a 52-week high of $90.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.21.

Amdocs (NASDAQ:DOX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The technology company reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.01. Amdocs had a net margin of 11.81% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Amdocs Limited will post 6.56 EPS for the current year.

Amdocs Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.569 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Amdocs's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Amdocs in a report on Monday, June 29th. They set a "sector weight" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Amdocs in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Amdocs from $88.00 to $71.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Amdocs from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 5th. Finally, Cfra lowered Amdocs to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.67.

About Amdocs

Amdocs NASDAQ: DOX is a global software and services provider specializing in solutions for communications, media and entertainment companies. The company designs, develops and integrates revenue management, customer experience and digital services platforms that enable service providers to launch and monetize new offerings, streamline operations and enhance subscriber engagement. Amdocs' product suite encompasses billing and order management, customer relationship management, digital commerce and network function virtualization, supported by professional services for implementation, integration and managed operations.

Founded in 1982 and structured as a separate public company in 1998, Amdocs has its corporate headquarters in Chesterfield, Missouri, and maintains major development centers in Ra'anana, Israel.

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