AlphaQuest LLC Takes Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

AlphaQuest LLC bought a new stake in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 9,691 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,516,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 192.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 14,000 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $2,289,000 after purchasing an additional 9,207 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at $1,503,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at $15,892,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at $2,277,000. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 521.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 777 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.45% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PLXS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $152.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plexus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.00.

Plexus Trading Up 0.3 %

Plexus stock opened at $124.76 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95 and a beta of 0.90. Plexus Corp. has a one year low of $90.18 and a one year high of $172.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $146.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.83.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 10.36%. On average, analysts forecast that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other Plexus news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 4,337 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.23, for a total transaction of $616,851.51. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,463,026.85. The trade was a 5.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Frank Zycinski sold 1,200 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $169,008.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 723 shares in the company, valued at $101,827.32. The trade was a 62.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,458 shares of company stock valued at $2,786,515. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Plexus 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.