123,181 Shares in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Bought by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 123,181 shares of the electronics maker’s stock, valued at approximately $8,555,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Amphenol by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,625,209 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $251,785,000 after purchasing an additional 197,237 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Amphenol in the 4th quarter worth about $1,225,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 955,582 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $66,371,000 after purchasing an additional 52,836 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphenol by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Foster Dykema Cabot & Partners LLC now owns 596,452 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $41,522,000 after purchasing an additional 16,316 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APH. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Amphenol from $89.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Amphenol from $90.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Amphenol from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.40.

Amphenol Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:APH opened at $65.13 on Friday. Amphenol Co. has a 1-year low of $54.77 and a 1-year high of $79.39. The company has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $65.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.55%.

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.