Meridiem Capital Partners LP Purchases Shares of 139,952 Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Meridiem Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 139,952 shares of the electronics maker's stock, valued at approximately $9,720,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tacita Capital Inc grew its stake in Amphenol by 328.9% during the fourth quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 386 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 703.8% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 418 shares of the electronics maker's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of Amphenol in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $85.00 price objective (up from $78.00) on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Finally, US Capital Advisors set a $85.00 price target on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $81.62.

Amphenol Stock Up 1.1%

APH traded up $0.92 on Friday, hitting $86.89. The company had a trading volume of 7,689,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,529,052. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.28. Amphenol Co. has a 12-month low of $54.77 and a 12-month high of $86.95. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.11. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The company had revenue of $4.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.40 earnings per share. Amphenol's revenue for the quarter was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Amphenol's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, VP David M. Silverman sold 87,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.03, for a total value of $7,002,625.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,000,375. This represents a 87.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 126,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.28, for a total transaction of $10,115,280.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders 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.