Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 2,235 Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 13.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 18,923 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,235 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Plexus were worth $2,587,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 204.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 158,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,306,000 after buying an additional 106,103 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew 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 valued at $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 87,574 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 2.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,515,866 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $333,374,000 after purchasing an additional 74,988 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Plexus by 158.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,289,000 after purchasing an additional 50,564 shares during the period. Finally, Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 197.1% in the second quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 50,498 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 33,501 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Plexus Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of PLXS stock opened at $162.01 on Monday. Plexus Corp. has a twelve month low of $90.18 and a twelve month high of $169.41. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.40 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $143.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.51%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on shares of Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Three equities research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.02, for a total transaction of $64,010.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 9,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,227,199.72. This represents a 4.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total value of $950,738.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,585 shares in the company, valued at $3,271,870.10. This trade represents a 22.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,091 shares of company stock worth $5,334,885. 2.39% 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.