Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Stock

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $162.00 to $172.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 12.20% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on PLXS. StockNews.com raised shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Plexus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $162.33.

Plexus Trading Down 10.1 %

NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $153.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.91. Plexus has a 52 week low of $90.18 and a 52 week high of $172.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.30 and its 200-day moving average is $141.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.51.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a return on equity of 10.43% and a net margin of 3.03%. Equities analysts expect that Plexus will post 6.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 5,045 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total value of $722,090.85. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 24,602 shares in the company, valued at $3,521,284.26. This represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,113 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.19, for a total transaction of $448,863.47. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 35,323 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders sold a total of 34,091 shares of company stock worth $5,377,960 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Plexus by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 58,607 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 2,788 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Plexus during the 2nd quarter worth $297,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 148.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 11,049 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,147,000 after acquiring an additional 6,606 shares during the period. Finally, Earnest Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 788,196 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $81,326,000 after acquiring an additional 23,074 shares during the period. 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.