Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM)

Key Points

• Jefferies initiated coverage of FormFactor with a Buy rating and a $102 price target, implying 19.12% upside from the prior close.
• FormFactor beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $1.04 versus $0.86 expected and revenue of $280.55 million versus $270.52 million; revenue grew 38.4% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Moderate Buy, with an average price target of $133.25; the shares opened at $85.63 on Wednesday.

Stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $102.00 price target on the semiconductor company's stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price objective would indicate a potential upside of 19.12% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on FORM. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of FormFactor from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of FormFactor from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of FormFactor in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on FormFactor in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised FormFactor from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.25.

FormFactor Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ FORM opened at $85.63 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $113.09 and a 200-day moving average of $113.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.10 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 3.68, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. FormFactor has a 12 month low of $47.33 and a 12 month high of $160.27.

FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $280.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.52 million. FormFactor had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 17.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that FormFactor will post 2.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mike Slessor sold 17,510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $1,833,822.30. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,876,862.62. This trade represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kelley Steven-Waiss sold 2,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.10, for a total value of $201,810.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,347,338.60. This represents a 7.92% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,710 shares of company stock valued at $5,520,564. Insiders own 0.79% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FormFactor

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FORM. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in FormFactor in the second quarter worth $1,676,772,000. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd bought a new stake in shares of FormFactor during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of FormFactor during the 2nd quarter valued at $285,257,000. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new stake in shares of FormFactor during the 2nd quarter valued at $270,300,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of FormFactor in the 2nd quarter worth about $103,844,000. Institutional investors own 98.76% of the company's stock.

FormFactor Company Profile

FormFactor, Inc. designs and manufactures testing and measurement products used in the development and production of semiconductor devices. Its offerings include probe cards, which connect test equipment to semiconductor wafers, as well as probe stations and related systems for electrical and thermal characterization. The company's products support testing at multiple stages of semiconductor development and manufacturing, including work on advanced integrated circuits and other complex devices. FormFactor serves customers around the world, including semiconductor manufacturers and research organizations.

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