Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Price Target Cut to $158.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company LLC has reduced its price target for Plexus from $162.00 to $158.00, while maintaining a "buy" rating, indicating a potential upside of 33.57% from the current stock price.
• The consensus target price for Plexus among analysts is currently $153.25, with a distribution of ratings that includes two hold ratings, three buy ratings, and one strong buy rating.
• Plexus reported $1.90 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and showcasing a 6.0% revenue increase compared to the previous year.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $162.00 to $158.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the technology company's stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target points to a potential upside of 33.57% from the stock's current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PLXS. Wall Street Zen upgraded Plexus from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 target price on Plexus in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Plexus has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $153.25.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLXS opened at $118.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.15 and a beta of 0.80. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $133.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $134.03. Plexus has a 1-year low of $103.43 and a 1-year high of $172.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The technology company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.71 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $1.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. Plexus had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 4.04%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total transaction of $272,108.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 26,133 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,455,305.26. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 76,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,101,699.52. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 12,032 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,222 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Plexus by 120.4% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 348,510 shares of the technology company's stock worth $44,655,000 after purchasing an additional 190,360 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plexus during the 1st quarter worth about $22,975,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Plexus by 19,069.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 170,797 shares of the technology company's stock worth $21,884,000 after purchasing an additional 169,906 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 146.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,824 shares of the technology company's stock worth $40,501,000 after buying an additional 154,003 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 24.7% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 678,222 shares of the technology company's stock worth $86,901,000 after buying an additional 134,205 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.45% of the company's stock.

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.

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