Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Amdocs Limited $DOX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group reduced its Amdocs stake by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 32,185 shares and leaving it with 693,644 shares valued at about $55.8 million.
• Institutional ownership in Amdocs remains high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 92.02% of the stock; several firms added to their positions while a few trimmed holdings.
• Analysts remain cautiously positive on Amdocs, with an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $92.33, even after some recent target cuts.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Amdocs Limited (NASDAQ:DOX - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 693,644 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 32,185 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.64% of Amdocs worth $55,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DOX. Seizert Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Amdocs by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 536,236 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $43,172,000 after acquiring an additional 26,555 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Amdocs by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 46,037 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $3,706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,788 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Amdocs by 124.0% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 12,636 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 6,994 shares during the last quarter. United Community Bank acquired a new position in Amdocs in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Amdocs by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 21,370 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,720,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.02% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Amdocs from $97.00 to $88.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Amdocs in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Barclays cut their price target on Amdocs from $111.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Amdocs from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amdocs has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.33.

Amdocs Price Performance

Shares of Amdocs stock opened at $63.75 on Friday. Amdocs Limited has a twelve month low of $62.75 and a twelve month high of $95.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The business's fifty day moving average price is $66.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $74.40.

Amdocs (NASDAQ:DOX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Amdocs had a return on equity of 20.19% and a net margin of 12.47%.The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amdocs Limited will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Amdocs Profile

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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