Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 2,861 Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,714 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,861 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Plexus were worth $12,474,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PLXS. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Plexus by 573.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Point72 DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Plexus in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Plexus in the 3rd quarter worth about $55,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Plexus by 89.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 464 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Plexus by 85.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 664 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $91,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Price Performance

NASDAQ PLXS opened at $167.36 on Friday. Plexus Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.18 and a 12-month high of $170.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $161.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.74 and a beta of 0.91.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm had revenue of $1.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Plexus Corp. will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Victor (Pang Hau) Tan sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.90, for a total transaction of $497,700.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 5,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,869.50. The trade was a 34.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.19, for a total value of $448,863.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,093,223.37. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,091 shares of company stock worth $5,377,960 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com raised Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Plexus currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $159.00.

Plexus Company 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.