Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,034,566 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after selling 288,939 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $71,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Amphenol by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 152,127,847 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $10,565,279,000 after acquiring an additional 2,108,578 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Amphenol by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 104,250,575 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $7,240,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,643,752 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Amphenol by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,325,653 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,754,672,000 after purchasing an additional 659,560 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Amphenol during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,378,794,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Amphenol by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,057,928 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $629,073,000 after buying an additional 107,482 shares during the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APH. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Amphenol from $89.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Amphenol from $89.00 to $72.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Amphenol from $90.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Amphenol from $90.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.40.

Amphenol Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE APH opened at $65.13 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $65.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.68. Amphenol Co. has a 1-year low of $54.72 and a 1-year high of $79.39.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The electronics maker reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.92% and a return on equity of 25.67%. The company had revenue of $4.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. Amphenol’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Amphenol Co. will post 2.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.