Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,600,000 shares, an increase of 5.8% from the March 15th total of 7,180,000 shares. Approximately 1.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 2,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on APH. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Amphenol in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Amphenol from $107.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $117.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.00.

Insider Activity at Amphenol

In other news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total transaction of $17,595,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Amphenol news, insider William J. Doherty sold 170,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.50, for a total value of $17,595,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Craig A. Lampo sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.67, for a total transaction of $10,467,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 147,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,391,200.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 305,000 shares of company stock worth $31,846,050. 2.22% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphenol

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Webster Bank N. A. lifted its stake in Amphenol by 16.2% in the first quarter. Webster Bank N. A. now owns 697 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC raised its position in Amphenol by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 16,925 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,678,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC boosted its stake in Amphenol by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC now owns 21,437 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,125,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Jacobsen Capital Management grew its position in Amphenol by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 6,113 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in Amphenol by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 4,844 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $480,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Amphenol Price Performance

Shares of APH opened at $111.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.17, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $110.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.30. Amphenol has a twelve month low of $72.00 and a twelve month high of $119.59.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.05. Amphenol had a return on equity of 23.94% and a net margin of 15.36%. The company had revenue of $3.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Amphenol’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Amphenol will post 3.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Amphenol’s payout ratio is 28.30%.

About Amphenol

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.