Intech Investment Management LLC Invests $755,000 in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,524 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $755,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PLXS. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Plexus by 204.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 158,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,306,000 after buying an additional 106,103 shares during the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,079,340 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $111,366,000 after acquiring an additional 87,574 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Plexus by 158.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,575 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $11,289,000 after purchasing an additional 50,564 shares during the last quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. boosted its stake in Plexus by 197.1% during the 2nd quarter. Speece Thorson Capital Group Inc. now owns 50,498 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,210,000 after purchasing an additional 33,501 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Plexus by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 453,308 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $46,772,000 after purchasing an additional 31,099 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 5,045 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction of $722,090.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,521,284.26. This trade represents a 17.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.19, for a total value of $448,863.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,323 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,093,223.37. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,591 shares of company stock worth $5,143,375. Corporate insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLXS has been the subject of several recent research reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Benchmark increased their price objective on Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plexus presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.50.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $164.40 on Friday. Plexus Corp. has a 52 week low of $90.18 and a 52 week high of $169.41. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $145.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.60. The company has a market cap of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.00 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 2.82%. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Plexus Corp. will post 6.14 earnings per share 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.