China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Trims Stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 75,200 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $5,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Amphenol by 100.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 647 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Amphenol by 83.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 183,441 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $12,358,000 after buying an additional 83,435 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 71.0% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 164,068 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $11,053,000 after buying an additional 68,103 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Amphenol by 112.3% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 285,372 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $19,225,000 after acquiring an additional 150,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphenol in the 2nd quarter worth $2,731,000. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David M. Silverman sold 180,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total value of $12,925,800.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,340. This trade represents a 92.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.56, for a total transaction of $21,468,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 318,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,764,380.96. This represents a 48.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 612,000 shares of company stock worth $44,177,640. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Amphenol from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.68.

Amphenol Trading Down 1.3 %

Amphenol stock opened at $70.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.00. The company has a market capitalization of $85.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.24. Amphenol Co. has a 52 week low of $50.48 and a 52 week high of $79.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 2.25 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 34.46%.

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.