Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Now Covered by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) in a report published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $152.00 target price on the technology company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Plexus from $162.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Plexus in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Plexus presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.00.

Plexus Stock Up 1.2 %

PLXS stock opened at $140.34 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.56 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $159.83 and a 200-day moving average of $143.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 1.53. Plexus has a one year low of $90.18 and a one year high of $172.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.10). Plexus had a net margin of 3.03% and a return on equity of 10.36%. As a group, analysts expect that Plexus will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Michael J. Running sold 579 shares of Plexus stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.93, for a total transaction of $89,125.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,569 shares in the company, valued at $241,516.17. The trade was a 26.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.39, for a total transaction of $234,585.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 74,271 shares in the company, valued at $11,615,241.69. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,402 shares of company stock worth $1,390,438 over the last ninety days. 1.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLXS. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its stake in 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 valued at $296,457,000 after purchasing an additional 59,465 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at about $107,489,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,886 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Plexus by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 200,186 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $27,367,000 after acquiring an additional 7,483 shares during the period. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.