Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) Shares Sold by Howard Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Synopsys, Inc. by 13.4% in the first quarter, selling 545 shares and holding 3,533 shares worth $1.5 million at the quarter's end.
• Synopsys reported earnings of $3.67 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, along with a 10.3% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Insider trading activity showed significant sales, with CFO Shelagh Glaser and CRO Richard S. Mahoney selling a combined total of over $7.7 million in shares recently.

Howard Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS - Free Report) by 13.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,533 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Synopsys were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Synopsys by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 7,280,182 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,533,526,000 after buying an additional 114,893 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Synopsys by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,902,696 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,864,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045,326 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synopsys by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,357,165 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,625,230,000 after purchasing an additional 75,298 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Synopsys by 38.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,432,596 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,043,518,000 after purchasing an additional 673,837 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Synopsys by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,888,181 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $916,441,000 after purchasing an additional 391,681 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.47% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Synopsys

In other Synopsys news, CFO Shelagh Glaser sold 7,310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $485.72, for a total transaction of $3,550,613.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 15,291 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,427,144.52. This represents a 32.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Richard S. Mahoney sold 9,010 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.21, for a total value of $4,245,602.10. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 1,485 shares in the company, valued at approximately $699,746.85. This represents a 85.85% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,686 shares of company stock valued at $13,001,048. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SNPS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Synopsys from $540.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $550.00 price objective on Synopsys in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $660.00 price objective (up from $650.00) on shares of Synopsys in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Synopsys from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Synopsys from $575.00 to $625.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.33.

Synopsys Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:SNPS traded down $14.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $618.65. 1,300,432 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,445,245. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $529.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $491.47. The company has a market cap of $95.99 billion, a PE ratio of 44.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a current ratio of 7.02, a quick ratio of 6.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Synopsys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $365.74 and a 12-month high of $651.73.

Synopsys (NASDAQ:SNPS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 28th. The semiconductor company reported $3.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.40 by $0.27. Synopsys had a return on equity of 17.09% and a net margin of 34.77%. The business had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.60 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.00 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Synopsys, Inc. will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc provides electronic design automation software products used to design and test integrated circuits. It operates in three segments: Design Automation, Design IP, and Software Integrity. The company offers Digital and Custom IC Design solution that provides digital design implementation solutions; Verification solution that offers virtual prototyping, static and formal verification, simulation, emulation, field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based prototyping, and debug solutions; and FPGA design products that are programmed to perform specific functions.