Westpac Banking Corp Cuts Stake in Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp sold 26.8% of its shares in Advanced Micro Devices, reducing its holdings to 24,992 shares valued at approximately $2.57 million.
• Advanced Micro Devices reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.48, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54, but had revenue of $7.69 billion, exceeding analyst expectations.
• The company initiated a $6 billion share repurchase plan, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD - Free Report) by 26.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,992 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 9,171 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Advanced Micro Devices were worth $2,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Advanced Micro Devices by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Services increased its holdings in Advanced Micro Devices by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 3,650 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Advanced Micro Devices by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 1,974 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $203,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Alaethes Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Advanced Micro Devices by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Alaethes Wealth LLC now owns 15,656 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,891,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Advanced Micro Devices by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,808 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. 71.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Advanced Micro Devices Stock Up 5.4%

Shares of NASDAQ AMD traded up $9.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $184.42. The stock had a trading volume of 108,009,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 67,074,880. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. has a 12 month low of $76.48 and a 12 month high of $186.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 2.49 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The company has a market capitalization of $299.28 billion, a PE ratio of 105.99, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $148.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.36.

Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.54 by ($0.06). Advanced Micro Devices had a return on equity of 7.54% and a net margin of 9.57%. The firm had revenue of $7.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. The business's revenue was up 31.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. will post 3.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Advanced Micro Devices declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor manufacturer to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Advanced Micro Devices from $120.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Roth Capital set a $150.00 target price on shares of Advanced Micro Devices and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Melius upgraded shares of Advanced Micro Devices from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Advanced Micro Devices from $150.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Advanced Micro Devices from $120.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at Advanced Micro Devices

In other news, EVP Paul Darren Grasby sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.21, for a total value of $1,732,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 125,505 shares in the company, valued at $21,738,721.05. This represents a 7.38% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark D. Papermaster sold 17,998 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.03, for a total transaction of $2,790,229.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,713,710 shares in the company, valued at $265,676,461.30. This trade represents a 1.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

About Advanced Micro Devices

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc operates as a semiconductor company worldwide. It operates through Data Center, Client, Gaming, and Embedded segments. The company offers x86 microprocessors and graphics processing units (GPUs) as an accelerated processing unit, chipsets, data center, and professional GPUs; and embedded processors, and semi-custom system-on-chip (SoC) products, microprocessor and SoC development services and technology, data processing unites, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and adaptive SoC products.