Wall Street Zen Downgrades Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) to Buy

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

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $162.00 target price (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Plexus currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.67.

Plexus Stock Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:PLXS traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $134.31. The company had a trading volume of 139,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 169,645. Plexus has a twelve month low of $100.96 and a twelve month high of $172.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market cap of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13 and a beta of 0.81. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $129.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $137.80.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 4,328 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.29, for a total transaction of $572,551.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 25,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,391,518.73. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total transaction of $272,108.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,032 shares of company stock worth $1,582,222. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Plexus by 4.8% during the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,682 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Plexus in the first quarter worth $1,089,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Plexus by 666.3% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 14,660 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,876,000 after purchasing an additional 12,747 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Plexus by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 14,823 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,899,000 after purchasing an additional 3,779 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Plexus by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 79,584 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $10,197,000 after purchasing an additional 9,078 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.