Cadence Design Systems Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CDNS)

Key Points

• Traders acquired 7,204 put options on Cadence on Monday, a 59% jump above the stock's average daily put volume, signaling unusually large bearish/options-hedging activity.
• CFO John M. Wall sold 21,500 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan (≈$6.65M); insiders have sold 24,680 shares in the past three months and now own 0.49% of the company.
• Cadence topped expectations with Q results (EPS $1.99 vs $1.91; revenue $1.44B vs $1.42B), set FY26 EPS guidance of 8.05–8.15, and carries a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $377.06 target.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders acquired 7,204 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 59% compared to the average daily volume of 4,522 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John M. Wall sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.45, for a total value of $6,653,175.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 86,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,883,468.75. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.19, for a total value of $280,190.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 128,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,028,511.34. The trade was a 0.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 24,680 shares of company stock valued at $7,579,340. Insiders own 0.49% 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 business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Imprint Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.85% of the company's stock.

Cadence Design Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ CDNS traded up $3.17 on Monday, hitting $336.06. 938,122 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,471,169. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $293.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $309.14. Cadence Design Systems has a fifty-two week low of $262.75 and a fifty-two week high of $376.45. The firm has a market cap of $92.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.76, a P/E/G ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 1.04.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.08. Cadence Design Systems had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 20.93%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cadence Design Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.950 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.050-8.150 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems will post 6.51 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CDNS has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price target on Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $410.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $377.06.

Cadence Design Systems Company Profile

Cadence Design Systems, Inc NASDAQ: CDNS is a global provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software, hardware and intellectual property used to design and verify advanced semiconductor chips, systems-on-chip (SoCs), printed circuit boards (PCBs) and packaging. Headquartered in San Jose, California and founded in 1988, Cadence serves semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers and system designers across the globe, helping customers accelerate design cycles and manage the complexity of modern integrated systems.

The company's offerings span software tools for digital, custom/analog and mixed-signal design, verification and signoff, as well as solutions for system-level modeling, thermal and signal integrity analysis, and PCB and package design.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.