Needham & Company LLC Raises Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Price Target to $172.00

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) had its target price raised by Needham & Company LLC from $162.00 to $172.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the technology company’s stock.

PLXS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Plexus in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. They issued a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Plexus in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $162.33.

Plexus Stock Performance

Shares of PLXS opened at $152.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.38 and a beta of 0.91. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $162.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.21. Plexus has a 52-week low of $90.18 and a 52-week high of $172.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 10.43%. Analysts forecast that Plexus will post 6.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total value of $950,738.46. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 19,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,271,870.10. This trade represents a 22.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,113 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.19, for a total transaction of $448,863.47. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,323 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,093,223.37. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 29,046 shares of company stock valued at $4,655,870. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Plexus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLXS. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 2.8% in the third quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,168,512 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $296,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,465 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Plexus by 3.0% during the second quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 788,196 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $81,326,000 after purchasing an additional 23,074 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Plexus in the fourth quarter worth about $107,489,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Plexus by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 653,759 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $89,392,000 after buying an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Plexus by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 421,903 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $57,678,000 after buying an additional 2,886 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.