Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Decreases Stock Holdings in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. trimmed its stake in Amphenol Co. (NYSE:APH - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,049,804 shares of the electronics maker's stock after selling 87,317 shares during the period. Amphenol accounts for about 1.4% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned about 0.09% of Amphenol worth $68,405,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $2,468,301,000 after acquiring an additional 17,552,921 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Amphenol by 69.1% during the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 9,487,387 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Amphenol by 88.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. now owns 15,455,006 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $1,041,204,000 after purchasing an additional 7,275,279 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Amphenol by 116.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,833,128 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $662,458,000 after purchasing an additional 5,293,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Amphenol by 263.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,568,426 shares of the electronics maker's stock valued at $240,935,000 after purchasing an additional 2,585,282 shares in the last quarter. 97.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amphenol Stock Performance

Shares of APH traded down $0.02 on Tuesday, reaching $73.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,606,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,631,690. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.11, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $68.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.53. Amphenol Co. has a 12-month low of $44.81 and a 12-month high of $74.93.

Amphenol (NYSE:APH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electronics maker reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. Amphenol had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 24.68%. The firm's revenue was up 26.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Amphenol Co. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphenol Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Amphenol's payout ratio is currently 37.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard Adam Norwitt sold 900,672 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.81, for a total transaction of $61,975,240.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,934,848 shares in the company, valued at approximately $133,136,890.88. This represents a 31.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Straub sold 132,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.12, for a total transaction of $9,783,840.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,842,672 shares of company stock worth $128,858,080 over the last three months. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Amphenol from $76.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $70.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Amphenol from $71.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphenol has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $69.63.

Amphenol 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.