Wall Street Zen Upgrades Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) to Strong-Buy

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

PLXS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on Plexus in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Plexus has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $155.67.

Plexus Stock Performance

Shares of Plexus stock opened at $130.22 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $127.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. Plexus has a 52 week low of $100.96 and a 52 week high of $172.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.12. Plexus had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 10.36%. The business had revenue of $980.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $980.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.94 EPS. Plexus’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Plexus will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In other news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 4,328 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.29, for a total value of $572,551.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 25,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,391,518.73. The trade was a 14.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total value of $272,108.76. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,455,305.26. This represents a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,032 shares of company stock worth $1,582,222 over the last 90 days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLXS. TD Private Client Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Plexus by 134.0% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Plexus by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Plexus by 1,000.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in shares of Plexus in the first quarter worth approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.