Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Buys 939,261 Shares of Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH) by 100.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,875,309 shares of the electronics maker’s stock after buying an additional 939,261 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Amphenol were worth $126,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Amphenol by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,459,971 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $8,473,608,000 after acquiring an additional 321,861 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Amphenol by 92.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 36,637,988 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $2,468,301,000 after purchasing an additional 17,552,921 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Amphenol by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 31,224,036 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $3,601,694,000 after purchasing an additional 1,979,022 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Amphenol by 69.1% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 23,225,629 shares of the electronics maker’s stock valued at $1,564,711,000 after buying an additional 9,487,387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mawer Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Amphenol by 88.9% during the second quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,455,006 shares of the electronics maker’s stock worth $1,041,204,000 after buying an additional 7,275,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.01% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on APH shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Amphenol from $45.00 to $57.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Amphenol from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Amphenol from $67.50 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America lowered shares of Amphenol from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $71.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphenol in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.04.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of Amphenol stock opened at $65.91 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 2.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.44, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. Amphenol Co. has a 52 week low of $39.34 and a 52 week high of $70.84.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The electronics maker reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.39 billion. Amphenol had a return on equity of 24.08% and a net margin of 15.69%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amphenol Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Amphenol Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 9th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Amphenol’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Amphenol

In other news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 750,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total value of $48,405,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,934,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,875,089.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 750,000 shares of Amphenol stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.54, for a total transaction of $48,405,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,934,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $124,875,089.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Luc Walter sold 170,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.10, for a total value of $10,897,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 447,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,703,339. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,516,000 shares of company stock valued at $98,236,640. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.