Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 89,524 Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 237,277 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 89,524 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Plexus were worth $37,129,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PLXS. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Plexus in the fourth quarter worth about $107,489,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 72.2% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,128,000 after buying an additional 228,027 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Plexus by 146.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,824 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $40,501,000 after buying an additional 154,003 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 1,875.1% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 137,466 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,511,000 after acquiring an additional 130,506 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at $15,892,000. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on PLXS shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Plexus in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $152.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Plexus

In other news, insider Michael J. Running sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.62, for a total value of $173,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,276 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,879.12. This represents a 49.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,423 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.14, for a total transaction of $496,814.22. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 29,501 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,958 shares of company stock worth $2,551,930. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Plexus Stock Performance

PLXS stock opened at $112.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $132.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.79. Plexus Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $92.72 and a fifty-two week high of $172.89. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.04 and a beta of 0.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. Analysts forecast that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

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.