Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 4,606 Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,606 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $107,489,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,892,000. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN raised its position in shares of Plexus by 2.8% during the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,168,512 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $296,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,465 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Plexus by 1,546.5% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 45,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after purchasing an additional 43,009 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Plexus by 139.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,786 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 28,406 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Plexus stock opened at $128.21 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $140.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.39. Plexus Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.87 and a 12-month high of $172.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 10.36%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $152.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other news, insider Michael J. Running sold 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.62, for a total transaction of $173,275.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,879.12. This represents a 49.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,423 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total value of $496,814.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 29,501 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,281,775.14. The trade was a 10.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,458 shares of company stock worth $2,786,515 in the last quarter. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.