Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Decreases Stake in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP cut its stake in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 94.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,200 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 81,439 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in Plexus were worth $711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,515,866 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $333,374,000 after purchasing an additional 74,988 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in Plexus by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 23,461 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,219,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Plexus by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 22,513 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 68.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 66,261 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,281,000 after acquiring an additional 26,904 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Plexus by 40.0% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLXS opened at $161.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $143.00 and a 200 day moving average of $124.30. The firm has a market cap of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 40.25 and a beta of 0.87. Plexus Corp. has a one year low of $90.18 and a one year high of $169.41.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 6.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Plexus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total transaction of $950,738.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,585 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,271,870.10. The trade was a 22.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.02, for a total transaction of $64,010.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,227,199.72. This represents a 4.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,091 shares of company stock worth $5,334,885 over the last quarter. 2.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Plexus Profile

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.