Insider Selling: Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Insider Sells 170,000 Shares of Stock

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) insider Luc Walter sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $10,897,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 447,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,703,339. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Luc Walter also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, July 26th, Luc Walter sold 106,000 shares of Amphenol stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.19, for a total value of $6,804,140.00.
• On Wednesday, May 22nd, Luc Walter sold 230,000 shares of Amphenol stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.57, for a total transaction of $15,541,100.00.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock traded down $1.45 on Tuesday, hitting $61.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,006,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,509,657. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.02. The company has a market capitalization of $74.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $67.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.77. Amphenol Co. has a 1 year low of $39.34 and a 1 year high of $70.84.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 24.08% and a net margin of 15.69%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.91%.

Amphenol declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the electronics maker to purchase up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Amphenol

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APH. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 228.5% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 110,298 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $10,934,000 after buying an additional 76,724 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter worth $3,589,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Amphenol by 63.4% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 38,264 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after purchasing an additional 14,843 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Amphenol by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,180,261 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $315,259,000 after purchasing an additional 73,662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortune Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,071,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APH. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Vertical Research began coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Amphenol in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Amphenol in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $62.50 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Amphenol to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amphenol currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.35.

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.