ING Groep NV Reduces Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 66.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 303,982 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 604,780 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $21,112,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in 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 period. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Amphenol by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 98,432 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 25,007 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Amphenol by 50.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 268,219 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $17,477,000 after buying an additional 90,450 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP increased its holdings in Amphenol by 315.1% during the third quarter. LMR Partners LLP now owns 294,800 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $19,209,000 after buying an additional 223,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 19,496 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:APH opened at $69.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $70.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.55. Amphenol Co. has a fifty-two week low of $52.10 and a fifty-two week high of $79.39. The firm has a market cap of $84.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 1.23.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its 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 net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Amphenol’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is 34.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Amphenol has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.68.

Amphenol Profile

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.