Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) Stock

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) had its price target raised by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $162.00 to $172.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.20% from the stock’s current price.

PLXS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Plexus from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Plexus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a 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 for the company. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Plexus in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $162.33.

Plexus Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLXS opened at $153.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.30 and a 200-day moving average of $141.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.91. 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 data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The technology company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) 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 10.43%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Plexus will post 6.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Plexus

In related news, CAO Angelo Michael Ninivaggi, Jr. sold 3,113 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.19, for a total transaction of $448,863.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 35,323 shares in the company, valued at $5,093,223.37. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Oliver K. Mihm sold 5,691 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.06, for a total transaction of $950,738.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,585 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,271,870.10. This represents a 22.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,091 shares of company stock valued at $5,377,960. Company insiders own 1.76% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Plexus

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLXS. Quarry LP increased its position in Plexus by 573.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 229 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 3rd quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter valued at $56,000. 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.