StockNews.com Upgrades Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) to “Buy”

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PLXS. Benchmark boosted their target price on Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.50.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $157.83 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $140.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.18. Plexus has a 1 year low of $90.18 and a 1 year high of $169.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $4.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.36 and a beta of 0.87.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Plexus news, insider Michael J. Running sold 579 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $89,125.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $241,516.17. The trade was a 26.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Victor (Pang Hau) Tan sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.50, for a total value of $127,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,097,137.50. This represents a 10.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,552 shares of company stock valued at $5,250,872 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP raised its stake in Plexus by 573.5% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised 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 worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the period. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Plexus during the second quarter worth approximately $51,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in Plexus in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Plexus in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.45% of the company’s stock.

About Plexus

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.