Earnest Partners LLC Has $118.70 Million Position in Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS)

Earnest Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Plexus Corp. (NASDAQ:PLXS) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 758,531 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Plexus were worth $118,695,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Plexus in the 4th quarter worth approximately $107,489,000. Stifel Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Plexus during the third quarter worth approximately $332,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Plexus by 139.4% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 48,786 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,669,000 after purchasing an additional 28,406 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Plexus by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,180 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $185,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Plexus during the fourth quarter worth $783,000. 94.45% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Plexus Stock Up 1.2 %

Plexus stock opened at $126.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.42 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.20. 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 Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $99.79 and a fifty-two week high of $172.89.

Plexus (NASDAQ:PLXS) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.36% and a net margin of 3.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Plexus Corp. will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLXS. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $162.00 price objective (down from $172.00) on shares of Plexus in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $145.00 target price on shares of Plexus in a report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Plexus from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Plexus presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Todd P. Kelsey sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.96, for a total value of $205,440.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,906,206.72. The trade was a 1.70 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Randy J. Martinez sold 887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.52, for a total value of $124,641.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $678,852.12. This trade represents a 15.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,958 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,930. 1.76% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.