First Eagle Investment Management LLC Decreases Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,012 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the period. First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Plexus were worth $5,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at about $915,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its stake in Plexus by 108.8% in the 4th quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 298,262 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $32,251,000 after purchasing an additional 155,447 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Plexus in the first quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,533,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Plexus in the first quarter worth approximately $533,000. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Plexus Stock Performance

Shares of PLXS stock opened at $131.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $122.97 and a 200 day moving average of $108.79. Plexus Corp. has a 52 week low of $87.21 and a 52 week high of $132.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.17. Plexus had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 9.64%. The firm had revenue of $960.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $981.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Plexus Corp. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PLXS shares. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Plexus from $114.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Plexus from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $124.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.40, for a total value of $385,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,028,768.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.40, for a total value of $385,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 93,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,028,768.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Steven J. Frisch sold 6,565 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.11, for a total transaction of $841,042.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,627,076.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 21,769 shares of company stock worth $2,731,834. Company insiders own 2.39% of the company’s stock.

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.