Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• Plexus shares opened higher but later traded down 1.1%, with the stock last changing hands near $240.31 after opening at $246.41.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with an average rating of “Buy” and a $273 price target; recent targets range from $308 to $330, despite one downgrade to “Hold.”
• Plexus beat quarterly expectations, reporting $2.32 in EPS versus $2.13 expected and $1.30 billion in revenue, up 28.2% year over year. Institutional ownership is high at 94.45%, while insiders have sold 7,500 shares over the past three months.

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $239.63, but opened at $246.41. Plexus shares last traded at $240.3070, with a volume of 16,230 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLXS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Plexus from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Zacks Research upgraded Plexus from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Plexus from $280.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Sidoti raised shares of Plexus from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $308.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $273.00.

Plexus Trading Down 1.1%

The firm's 50 day moving average is $254.11 and its 200 day moving average is $247.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06, a current ratio of 1.49 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $6.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.90 and a beta of 0.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The technology company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.13 by $0.19. Plexus had a return on equity of 12.46% and a net margin of 4.03%.The company had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. Plexus's revenue was up 28.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Plexus has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 2.470-2.630 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In other news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.98, for a total transaction of $376,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 65,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,536,570.24. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael V. Schrock sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $1,100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,329 shares in the company, valued at $11,090,475. This trade represents a 9.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 7,500 shares of company stock valued at $2,039,375 in the last three months. 1.78% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Plexus during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,311,631,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 672,614 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $98,890,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Plexus during the second quarter valued at about $60,281,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Plexus during the second quarter valued at about $55,525,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the second quarter worth about $35,755,000. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Plexus

Plexus Corp. is a global electronics manufacturing services company that designs, manufactures and services products for original equipment manufacturers. The company supports customers across the product life cycle, from product development and engineering to supply chain management, assembly, testing, fulfillment and aftermarket services.

Plexus provides solutions for industries including healthcare and life sciences, industrial and commercial, aerospace and defense, and communications.

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