Royal Bank of Canada Trims Stock Holdings in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Royal Bank of Canada cut its position in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Free Report) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,249 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,338 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 0.75% of Plexus worth $31,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Plexus by 140.7% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 975 shares of the technology company's stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Plexus in the fourth quarter worth $311,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Plexus by 42.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,088 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Plexus by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 351,557 shares of the technology company's stock worth $55,012,000 after acquiring an additional 21,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in Plexus by 76.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 123,212 shares of the technology company's stock worth $19,280,000 after acquiring an additional 53,204 shares in the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLXS traded down $0.61 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $130.04. 19,751 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 167,566. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.15 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.53. Plexus Corp. has a one year low of $100.96 and a one year high of $172.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $125.84 and a 200 day moving average of $141.76.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $980.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $980.07 million. Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. Plexus's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLXS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price target on Plexus in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 price target (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $155.67.

Insider Activity at Plexus

In related news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 4,328 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 now owns 25,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,518.73. This represents a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.68, for a total value of $263,360.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 76,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,101,699.52. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,328 shares of company stock worth $965,911. 1.76% of the stock is owned by 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.