Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 287,050 Shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,042,863 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 287,050 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $350,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Amphenol by 352.1% in the 3rd quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 434 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Amphenol by 50.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 498 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 166 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Amphenol by 89.3% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 496 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Endeavor Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amphenol in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 97.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on APH. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Amphenol from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Amphenol from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Amphenol from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Amphenol from $79.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $80.68.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Amphenol stock opened at $69.97 on Friday. Amphenol Co. has a fifty-two week low of $51.13 and a fifty-two week high of $79.39. The stock has a market cap of $84.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.37.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 25.67% and a net margin of 15.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Amphenol’s payout ratio is currently 34.55%.

Amphenol Company 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.