J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Increases Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 91.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,819 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,829 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of APH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 92.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 36,637,988 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,468,301,000 after buying an additional 17,552,921 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Amphenol by 39.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 29,245,014 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $2,899,059,000 after purchasing an additional 8,340,759 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Amphenol by 88.9% in the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,455,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,041,204,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,279 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Amphenol by 263.0% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,568,426 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $240,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,585,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amphenol by 81.9% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,775,417 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $321,720,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150,354 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, insider William J. Doherty sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.83, for a total transaction of $19,749,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Luc Walter sold 106,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.19, for a total transaction of $6,804,140.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 447,790 shares in the company, valued at $28,743,640.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider William J. Doherty sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.83, for a total transaction of $19,749,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,516,000 shares of company stock worth $98,236,640 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on APH. UBS Group upped their price objective on Amphenol from $69.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Vertical Research began coverage on Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Amphenol from $45.00 to $57.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $67.50 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Amphenol in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.04.

Amphenol Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:APH opened at $63.30 on Thursday. Amphenol Co. has a 52-week low of $39.34 and a 52-week high of $70.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.29 and a 200 day moving average of $62.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.04 billion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.69% and a return on equity of 24.08%. The company had revenue of $3.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Amphenol Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 40.49%.

Amphenol Company 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.