Essex Financial Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 49.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,303 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,765 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 55.2% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,376,669 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $199,616,000 after purchasing an additional 845,637 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 21.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,090,708 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $343,579,000 after acquiring an additional 729,849 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Amphenol by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 55,500,422 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $4,661,480,000 after purchasing an additional 691,964 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 15,279,911 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,283,360,000 after purchasing an additional 653,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,145,093 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,104,056,000 after purchasing an additional 564,110 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Amphenol from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Amphenol from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Amphenol in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.83.

Amphenol Stock Performance

NYSE APH opened at $122.65 on Friday. Amphenol Co. has a fifty-two week low of $72.77 and a fifty-two week high of $123.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $113.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 2.06.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 3.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.91%.

Amphenol declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, April 24th that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the electronics maker to buy up to 2.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amphenol news, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total value of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares in the company, valued at $15,391,200.15. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Peter Straub sold 20,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.64, for a total value of $2,212,800.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 147,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,391,200.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,251,050 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.