Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Cadence Design Systems reached a new 52-week high with shares trading as high as $374.05 during mid-day trading.
• Analysts have given Cadence favorable ratings, with price targets ranging from $350.00 to $390.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• The company reported strong earnings with an EPS of $1.65 for the quarter, exceeding expectations and showing a 20.2% year-over-year revenue increase.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $374.05 and last traded at $371.03, with a volume of 3882105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CDNS. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $365.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $350.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $364.33.

Cadence Design Systems Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $313.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.34 billion, a PE ratio of 97.68, a P/E/G ratio of 4.68 and a beta of 0.97.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The software maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.56 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.25 billion. Cadence Design Systems had a return on equity of 29.65% and a net margin of 19.88%. Cadence Design Systems's quarterly revenue was up 20.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.28 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Cadence Design Systems news, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $304.00, for a total value of $54,720.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,010 shares in the company, valued at $2,435,040. This trade represents a 2.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.35, for a total value of $306,350.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 105,499 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,319,618.65. This represents a 0.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,698 shares of company stock worth $1,126,667. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cadence Design Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 31,049.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,218,241 shares of the software maker's stock worth $309,835,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,330 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the first quarter valued at approximately $289,744,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 13.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 9,064,953 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,305,489,000 after buying an additional 1,054,702 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 466.4% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 786,849 shares of the software maker's stock worth $242,468,000 after buying an additional 647,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,978,652 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,397,266,000 after buying an additional 639,146 shares during the period. 84.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Cadence Design Systems

Cadence Design Systems, Inc provides software, hardware, services, and reusable integrated circuit (IC) design blocks worldwide. The company offers functional verification services, including emulation and prototyping hardware. Its functional verification offering consists of JasperGold, a formal verification platform; Xcelium, a parallel logic simulation platform; Palladium, an enterprise emulation platform; and Protium, a prototyping platform for chip verification.