Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) Short Interest Down 16.8% in March

Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 545,200 shares, a drop of 16.8% from the March 15th total of 655,400 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 199,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.96, for a total transaction of $205,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,932 shares in the company, valued at $11,906,206.72. This represents a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Frank Zycinski sold 1,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.84, for a total value of $169,008.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 723 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $101,827.32. This represents a 62.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,958 shares of company stock worth $2,551,930. 1.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLXS. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Plexus in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $107,489,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Plexus by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,017 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $85,128,000 after acquiring an additional 228,027 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 19,069.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 170,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,884,000 after acquiring an additional 169,906 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at $24,747,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Plexus by 146.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 258,824 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $40,501,000 after buying an additional 154,003 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $123.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $126.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.52. Plexus has a 1-year low of $93.58 and a 1-year high of $172.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27 and a beta of 0.83.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. Research analysts anticipate that Plexus will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on PLXS shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Plexus in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $152.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Plexus Company Profile

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.