Wall Street Zen Upgrades Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) to "Strong-Buy"

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PLXS. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on Plexus in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.67.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of Plexus stock traded down $3.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 122,037 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,920. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $127.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.44. Plexus has a 12-month low of $100.96 and a 12-month high of $172.89. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21 and a beta of 0.81. 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 (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $980.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Plexus will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In other news, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total value of $272,108.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,455,305.26. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.77, for a total value of $65,385.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,365 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,224,661.05. The trade was a 5.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 12,032 shares of company stock worth $1,582,222. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Plexus by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Plexus by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 2,315 shares of the technology company's stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Plexus by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 5,907 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Plexus by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,682 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $344,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Plexus by 134.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.