Synopsys' (SNPS) Underperform Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Key Points

• Bank of America has downgraded Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS) from a "buy" rating to "underperform," setting a price target of $525.00, which indicates a potential downside of 13.13% from the current stock price.
• Other brokerages showed mixed sentiment, with Morgan Stanley affirming an "overweight" rating and raising its target price to $715.00, while Needham and Company cut their target price to $550.00 and maintained a "buy" rating.
• Despite the downgrade, Synopsys currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price estimate of $605.00, with 11 analysts rating it as a Buy and only two as Sell.

Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "underperform" rating restated by research analysts at Bank of America in a report released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $525.00 price objective on the semiconductor company's stock, down from their prior price objective of $625.00. Bank of America's target price would suggest a potential upside of 33.27% from the company's current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on SNPS. Robert W. Baird reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $535.00 price objective (down from $670.00) on shares of Synopsys in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp upped their price target on Synopsys from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $715.00 price target (up from $540.00) on shares of Synopsys in a report on Monday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Synopsys from $660.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $605.00 target price (down previously from $650.00) on shares of Synopsys in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $599.00.

Synopsys Trading Down 34.8%

NASDAQ:SNPS traded down $210.44 on Wednesday, hitting $393.93. The stock had a trading volume of 15,017,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,482,535. The company has a quick ratio of 6.85, a current ratio of 7.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $61.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.25, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $597.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $507.82. Synopsys has a 1-year low of $365.74 and a 1-year high of $651.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Shelagh Glaser sold 3,655 shares of Synopsys stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.77, for a total value of $2,228,709.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,317 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,339,847.09. The trade was a 19.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sassine Ghazi sold 11,366 shares of Synopsys stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.01, for a total value of $6,694,687.66. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 71,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,181,951.15. The trade was a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 24,031 shares of company stock valued at $13,168,999. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Synopsys

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Synopsys in the 2nd quarter valued at about $647,964,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Synopsys by 54,286.0% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,196,492 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $513,116,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,292 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synopsys in the 1st quarter valued at about $341,480,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Synopsys by 38.3% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,432,596 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,043,518,000 after purchasing an additional 673,837 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Synopsys by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 2,598,874 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,333,095,000 after purchasing an additional 585,494 shares during the period. 85.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc provides electronic design automation software products used to design and test integrated circuits. It operates in three segments: Design Automation, Design IP, and Software Integrity. The company offers Digital and Custom IC Design solution that provides digital design implementation solutions; Verification solution that offers virtual prototyping, static and formal verification, simulation, emulation, field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based prototyping, and debug solutions; and FPGA design products that are programmed to perform specific functions.