KBC Group NV Lowers Stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

KBC Group NV trimmed its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 26.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 572,381 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 205,388 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $39,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 352.1% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 434 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital raised its position in Amphenol by 100.0% in the second quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 462 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 50.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphenol by 89.3% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 496 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amphenol by 100.3% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 647 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Amphenol

In other Amphenol news, VP David M. Silverman sold 180,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.81, for a total transaction of $12,925,800.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,005,340. The trade was a 92.78 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 132,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total value of $9,783,840.00. 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. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Amphenol stock opened at $67.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Amphenol Co. has a 12 month low of $49.97 and a 12 month high of $79.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $72.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $67.98. The company has a market cap of $81.36 billion, a PE ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.24.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4,051,810 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. Amphenol’s revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on APH. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Amphenol from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $80.68.

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.