Plexus’ (PLXS) Buy Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $160.00 price target on the technology company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 price objective on Plexus in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (down previously from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.67.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLXS opened at $134.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $124.90 and a 200 day moving average of $143.05. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16 and a beta of 0.80. Plexus has a 1-year low of $100.96 and a 1-year high of $172.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.70.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.12. Plexus had a return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. The firm had revenue of $980.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Plexus will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Randy J. Martinez sold 887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.52, for a total transaction of $124,641.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,852.12. The trade was a 15.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael J. Running sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.62, for a total value of $173,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $176,879.12. The trade was a 49.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,137 shares of company stock valued at $577,916. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLXS. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Plexus in the fourth quarter worth $107,489,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Plexus by 72.2% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 544,017 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $85,128,000 after purchasing an additional 228,027 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Plexus by 120.4% in the first quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 348,510 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $44,655,000 after purchasing an additional 190,360 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Plexus in the first quarter worth $22,975,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Plexus by 19,069.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 170,797 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $21,884,000 after purchasing an additional 169,906 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.