Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Plexus in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on shares of Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.50.

Plexus Price Performance

PLXS opened at $156.21 on Monday. Plexus has a fifty-two week low of $90.18 and a fifty-two week high of $169.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $140.17 and a 200 day moving average of $122.81. 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 market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.96 and a beta of 0.87.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Plexus’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Plexus will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Plexus news, insider Michael J. Running sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total value of $89,125.47. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,569 shares in the company, valued at $241,516.17. This represents a 26.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victor (Pang Hau) Tan sold 1,000 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.50, for a total value of $127,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,097,137.50. This trade represents a 10.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,552 shares of company stock valued at $5,250,872. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Plexus by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,515,866 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $333,374,000 after acquiring an additional 74,988 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,168,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $296,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,465 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its position in Plexus by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,340 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $111,366,000 after purchasing an additional 87,574 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in Plexus by 3.0% in the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 788,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 0.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 653,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,392,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Company 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.