BlackRock Inc. Acquires New Stake in Ceva, Inc. $CEVA

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired a new 8.68% stake in Ceva, purchasing 2.42 million shares valued at approximately $114 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 85.37% of the company.
• Ceva’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $0.08 per share versus the $0.07 consensus and revenue of $29.03 million, up 13% year over year. Analysts expect a full-year loss of $0.17 per share.
• Shares recently traded at $27.12, down 4.6%, while analyst sentiment remains a “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $40.60; targets range from $38 to $50.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Ceva, Inc. (NASDAQ:CEVA - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,417,205 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $113,995,000. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 8.68% of Ceva as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Ceva by 77.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,446 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ceva during the second quarter worth about $49,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Ceva by 422.2% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,731 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Ceva by 771.8% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,380 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in Ceva by 47.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,758 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,172 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.37% of the company's stock.

Ceva Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of CEVA opened at $27.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $763.43 million, a P/E ratio of -67.80 and a beta of 1.99. Ceva, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.02 and a 12-month high of $51.60. The company's 50-day moving average price is $36.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.53.

Ceva (NASDAQ:CEVA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $29.03 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.19 million. Ceva had a negative net margin of 9.48% and a negative return on equity of 3.15%. Ceva's revenue was up 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Ceva, Inc. will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CEVA. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Ceva from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ceva in a report on Monday, July 6th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Ceva in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised Ceva from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Ceva from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ceva currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.60.

Ceva Profile

Ceva, Inc NASDAQ: CEVA is a leading licensor of signal processing IP cores and platforms that enable intelligent, connected devices. The company designs a broad portfolio of digital signal processing (DSP) and AI processors, software development toolkits and reference frameworks for applications ranging from 5G wireless communications and Bluetooth connectivity to audio, computer vision, sensor fusion and edge AI. Its solutions target a variety of end markets including smartphones, automotive, IoT devices, smart home, industrial automation and wearable electronics.

Founded in 1999 as a spin-off from DSP Group, Ceva has built its reputation on delivering modular, power-efficient IP that can be customized to meet stringent performance, area and power requirements.

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