Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,940,000 shares, an increase of 19.0% from the December 31st total of 11,710,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 6,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $90.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Amphenol from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Amphenol from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David M. Silverman sold 180,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $1,005,340. This trade represents a 92.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 132,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $9,783,840.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 612,000 shares of company stock valued at $44,177,640 in the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amphenol

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APH. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 208.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 27,095 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,765,000 after buying an additional 18,322 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Amphenol by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 268,219 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $17,477,000 after acquiring an additional 90,450 shares during the period. LMR Partners LLP boosted its position in Amphenol by 315.1% during the 3rd quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 294,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $19,209,000 after acquiring an additional 223,784 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Amphenol by 22.3% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 106,899 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,966,000 after purchasing an additional 19,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Amphenol in the 3rd quarter valued at about $484,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE APH traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $70.75. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,270,294 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,508,724. The firm has a market cap of $85.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.24. Amphenol has a 1-year low of $50.48 and a 1-year high of $79.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 business 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 earned $0.82 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Amphenol will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.