Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Short Interest Up 21.9% in September

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 517,400 shares, an increase of 21.9% from the August 31st total of 424,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 148,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on PLXS. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Plexus from $114.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Plexus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $124.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Steven J. Frisch sold 6,565 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.11, for a total value of $841,042.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,076.98. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.40, for a total transaction of $385,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,682 shares in the company, valued at $12,028,768.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Steven J. Frisch sold 6,565 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.11, for a total transaction of $841,042.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,118 shares in the company, valued at $4,627,076.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,769 shares of company stock worth $2,731,834. Corporate insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PLXS. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Plexus by 72.3% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 348 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Plexus by 36,700.0% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 368 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Plexus in the second quarter worth about $51,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 976 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,705 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $176,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Plexus stock traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $136.44. 125,420 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 148,980. The company has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.69 and a beta of 0.89. Plexus has a 52 week low of $87.21 and a 52 week high of $138.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.17. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.64% and a net margin of 2.82%. The company had revenue of $960.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $981.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Plexus will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.