KCM Investment Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. $CDNS

Key Points

• KCM Investment Advisors LLC more than doubled its stake in Cadence Design Systems, increasing holdings by 105.8% to 9,429 shares worth about $3.31 million per the latest SEC filing.
• Cadence beat Q4 estimates, reporting $1.99 EPS vs. $1.91 expected and $1.44B revenue, issued Q1 and FY2026 guidance, and carries a "Moderate Buy" analyst consensus with an average target of $376.50.
• Institutional and insider activity: roughly 84.9% of the stock is owned by institutions, while insiders have sold 56,480 shares (~$18.49M) in the past 90 days, signaling strong institutional backing alongside recent insider liquidity-taking.

KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Free Report) by 105.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,429 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 4,847 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $3,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Cadence Design Systems by 1.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,923,317 shares of the software maker's stock worth $9,457,084,000 after purchasing an additional 327,456 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 1.4% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,318,585 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,795,972,000 after buying an additional 172,551 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,363,734 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,952,771,000 after buying an additional 77,478 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Cadence Design Systems by 16.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,314,407 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,866,739,000 after acquiring an additional 731,788 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 2nd quarter worth $1,190,618,000. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CDNS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price objective on Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $390.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Cadence Design Systems from an "underperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $376.50.

Cadence Design Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CDNS opened at $305.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $83.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 75.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $304.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.74. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.56 and a fifty-two week high of $376.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.86.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.08. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 20.93% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business 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 company earned $1.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Cadence Design Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Cadence Design Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue and EPS beat analysts' estimates and management issued Q1 and FY2026 guidance, underpinning the upbeat investor response; Stifel reaffirmed its Buy rating and $395 price target, supporting upside expectations. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) Beats Q4 Revenue and EPS Expectations, Stifel Reaffirms Buy
• Positive Sentiment: A company director disclosed a purchase of 54 shares at an average cost of $256.95 (increasing her stake), a small but constructive signal of insider confidence versus the prior sale activity. Director purchase SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Cadence presented at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom conference — investor presentations can help clarify strategy and growth drivers but their impact depends on new takeaways delivered in the talk. Conference transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary pieces note Cadence outperformed the broader market in the latest session; these items reflect price movement rather than new fundamental drivers. Zacks market note
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: a Cadence VP sold 1,000 shares (~$298k) and small director sales were also disclosed — these are notable sell transactions that could be read as liquidity-taking by insiders. VP sale SEC filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data in the recent reports appears inconsistent (showing zero/NaN), so there’s no clear signal from shorting activity at this time. Market data summary

Insider Activity at Cadence Design Systems

In other Cadence Design Systems news, VP Paul Scannell sold 5,490 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $339.43, for a total value of $1,863,470.70. Following the sale, the vice president owned 20,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,897,557.03. The trade was a 21.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.48, for a total value of $60,746.40. Following the transaction, the director owned 7,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,581,722. This represents a 2.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 56,480 shares of company stock valued at $18,492,189 in the last 90 days. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Cadence Design Systems

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.

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