Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on PLXS. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 target price on Plexus in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $162.00 target price (down 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, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Plexus presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.67.

Plexus Price Performance

Shares of Plexus stock opened at $130.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.44. Plexus has a 52 week low of $100.96 and a 52 week high of $172.89. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $1.66 EPS 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 business had revenue of $980.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Plexus will post 5.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Plexus news, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 2,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.22, for a total transaction of $272,108.76. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 26,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,455,305.26. The trade was a 7.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Karen Marie Rapp sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.77, for a total value of $65,385.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,365 shares in the company, valued at $1,224,661.05. The trade was a 5.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,032 shares of company stock valued at $1,582,222 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Plexus

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. TD Private Client Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 134.0% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 234 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 45.5% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 320 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Plexus by 1,000.0% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 473 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new position in shares of Plexus during the first quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 94.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.