Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 291,016 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 22,797 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $20,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APH. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in Amphenol by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 23,532 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in Amphenol by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 787 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $55,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the period. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 3,824 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,483 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. 97.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on APH shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their target price on Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Amphenol from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amphenol has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.68.

Amphenol Trading Down 1.9 %

Amphenol stock opened at $61.76 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $68.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Amphenol Co. has a 12 month low of $54.27 and a 12 month high of $79.39. The stock has a market cap of $74.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. Amphenol’s revenue was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.55%.

Amphenol 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.