Brokerages Set Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) PT at $147.25

Shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $147.25.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PLXS. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Plexus in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price target on Plexus from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Plexus from $144.00 to $162.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Plexus Stock Up 1.3 %

PLXS opened at $159.72 on Friday. Plexus has a 52 week low of $90.18 and a 52 week high of $170.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.66. The company has a market capitalization of $4.33 billion, a PE ratio of 39.83 and a beta of 0.91.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The technology company reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $1.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.01 billion. Plexus had a return on equity of 9.51% and a net margin of 2.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Plexus will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Patrick John Jermain sold 5,045 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction of $722,090.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 24,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,521,284.26. This trade represents a 17.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael J. Running sold 539 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.87, for a total value of $84,013.93. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,546.10. The trade was a 34.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,091 shares of company stock valued at $5,377,960 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLXS. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Plexus by 204.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 158,032 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $16,306,000 after purchasing an additional 106,103 shares during the period. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN lifted its stake in Plexus by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,168,512 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $296,457,000 after buying an additional 59,465 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Plexus by 158.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 82,575 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $11,289,000 after buying an additional 50,564 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in Plexus by 1,546.5% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 45,790 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,260,000 after buying an additional 43,009 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Plexus by 139.4% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after acquiring an additional 28,406 shares during the last quarter. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Plexus

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.