Amphenol (NYSE:APH) Hits New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $121.00 to $136.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Amphenol traded as high as $120.22 and last traded at $120.13, with a volume of 326775 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $119.01.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on APH. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their target price on Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Amphenol from $135.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphenol has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total value of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 305,000 shares of company stock valued at $31,846,050 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Amphenol

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Amphenol in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,078,167,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Amphenol by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,245,014 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,899,059,000 after buying an additional 8,340,759 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Amphenol by 101.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,987,076 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $196,979,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001,901 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Amphenol by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,138,110 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $7,250,181,000 after acquiring an additional 965,951 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its position in Amphenol by 6,323.2% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 978,130 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $96,962,000 after acquiring an additional 962,902 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Amphenol Trading Up 1.2 %

The company has a market cap of $72.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a current ratio of 2.06.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

Amphenol announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to repurchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Amphenol Company Profile

Amphenol Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, primarily designs, manufactures, and markets electrical, electronic, and fiber optic connectors in the United States, China, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Harsh Environment Solutions, Communications Solutions, and Interconnect and Sensor Systems.