Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 91.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 371,308 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 3,931,907 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Amphenol were worth $25,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Amphenol by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 346,199 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $22,558,000 after buying an additional 1,404 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Amphenol by 96.9% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 2,520 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 261,401 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $18,154,000 after purchasing an additional 16,075 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc raised its stake in Amphenol by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,824 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Amphenol by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 23,476 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on APH shares. US Capital Advisors set a $85.00 target price on Amphenol in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Amphenol from $73.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on Amphenol from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphenol presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.62.

Amphenol Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Amphenol stock traded up $0.92 on Friday, reaching $86.89. 7,689,932 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,529,053. The company has a market capitalization of $105.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. Amphenol Co. has a 52 week low of $54.77 and a 52 week high of $86.96. The firm's 50-day moving average is $70.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. Amphenol's quarterly revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.40 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Amphenol's payout ratio is currently 32.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.73, for a total transaction of $151,460,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,002,507 shares in the company, valued at $151,649,855.11. This trade represents a 49.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 126,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total value of $10,115,280.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,178,500 shares of company stock worth $241,903,805. 1.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Amphenol

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.