Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

PLXS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued 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. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price target on Plexus in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.67.

Plexus Trading Down 0.1%

Plexus stock traded down $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $130.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 266,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,637. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.53. Plexus has a 1-year low of $100.96 and a 1-year high of $172.89. The stock's fifty day moving average is $128.96 and its 200 day moving average is $138.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43 and a beta of 0.81.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.12. Plexus had a net margin of 3.60% and a return on equity of 11.17%. The business had revenue of $980.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Plexus

In related news, insider Michael J. Running sold 646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.05, for a total value of $84,012.30. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 630 shares in the company, valued at $81,931.50. This trade represents a 50.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.87, for a total transaction of $194,805.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 75,214 shares in the company, valued at $9,768,042.18. This represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 12,032 shares of company stock worth $1,582,222. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Plexus during the 4th quarter worth approximately $783,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Plexus by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 138,367 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $21,652,000 after purchasing an additional 4,445 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its stake in Plexus by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 6,937 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,086,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter worth about $322,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,277,000. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.