Machina Capital S.A.S. Purchases Shares of 9,438 Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 9,438 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $936,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APH. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 28,057 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,357,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 16.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,601 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $890,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 130,468 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $10,958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Telemus Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Telemus Capital LLC now owns 17,235 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the period. Finally, Hixon Zuercher LLC raised its holdings in Amphenol by 1.1% in the third quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 21,333 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 224 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In related news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total value of $1,571,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total transaction of $2,212,800.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,000 shares of company stock worth $14,251,050 over the last ninety days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock traded down $0.07 on Tuesday, hitting $124.72. The company had a trading volume of 3,606,418 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,895,827. Amphenol Co. has a 52 week low of $72.77 and a 52 week high of $125.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $74.91 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.58.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.87% and a return on equity of 23.85%. Amphenol’s revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. Research analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 3.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the electronics maker to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on APH shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America upped their target price on Amphenol from $121.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.83.

About Amphenol

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.