Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Shares Acquired by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,180,261 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,662 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $315,259,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APH. Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 21,437 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,125,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 6,113 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $606,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amphenol by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 5,421 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Amphenol by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,573 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APH has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.83.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of APH stock traded up $2.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $126.84. 1,607,712 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,894,880. The company’s 50 day moving average is $114.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.89. Amphenol Co. has a 1 year low of $72.77 and a 1 year high of $127.02. The company has a market cap of $76.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 2.06 and a quick ratio of 1.43.

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

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.91%.

Amphenol announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the electronics maker to reacquire up to 2.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Amphenol news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.75, for a total transaction of $1,571,250.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Lance E. D’amico sold 15,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,700 shares in the company, valued at $2,692,075. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was 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 have sold 135,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,251,050 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol 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.