Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Boosts Stake in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Free Report) by 61.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,769 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 5,224 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC's holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $3,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 1,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 120 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Avalon Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Cadence Design Systems in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 84.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Cadence Design Systems

In other Cadence Design Systems news, Director James D. Plummer sold 868 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $319.95, for a total transaction of $277,716.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 23,996 shares in the company, valued at $7,677,520.20. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Anirudh Devgan sold 10,737 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $3,328,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 209,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,959,880. The trade was a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,445 shares of company stock worth $5,615,733. 1.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on CDNS shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Cadence Design Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $293.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $320.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.23.

Cadence Design Systems Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ CDNS traded up $0.66 on Friday, hitting $296.95. 1,363,074 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,016,612. The company has a market capitalization of $81.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.93 and a quick ratio of 2.27. The company's 50-day moving average price is $285.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.53. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.56 and a 52-week high of $328.99.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The software maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 22.74% and a return on equity of 29.24%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.17 EPS. Cadence Design Systems's revenue for the quarter was up 23.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Cadence Design Systems Company Profile

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.