PFG Advisors Cuts Stake in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. $CDNS

Key Points

• PFG Advisors cut its Cadence stake by 45.2% in Q4, selling 7,713 shares and retaining 9,365 shares worth about $2.93M, while other large funds (e.g., MFS, Invesco, Assenagon) raised positions, leaving institutional ownership at 84.85%.
• Analyst sentiment is largely positive — 15 Buys versus 3 Holds with a consensus "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.06 (Needham raised its target to $400), signaling expected upside.
• Corporate catalysts include an expanded AI partnership with NVIDIA and Q1/FY2026 EPS guidance (Q1: 1.890–1.950; FY: 8.050–8.150), though insiders including the CFO sold shares (21,500) under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan.

PFG Advisors reduced its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Free Report) by 45.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,365 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 7,713 shares during the period. PFG Advisors' holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CDNS. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 16.0% during 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 buying an additional 731,788 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 120.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,124,417 shares of the software maker's stock worth $351,470,000 after buying an additional 615,440 shares during the period. Scge Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the second quarter worth $187,663,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 20.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,942,746 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,033,669,000 after buying an additional 499,009 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 577.5% during the third quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 566,679 shares of the software maker's stock worth $199,088,000 after buying an additional 483,039 shares during the period. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $390.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $410.00 to $375.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $377.06.

Key Cadence Design Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Expanded AI partnership with NVIDIA: Cadence announced an extension of its collaboration with NVIDIA focusing on agentic AI, physics-based simulation and accelerated-computing workflows — a strategic tie-up that broadens Cadence’s addressable market beyond chip design into system-level engineering and AI infrastructure, reinforcing growth expectations for its EDA tools. Cadence Design Systems jumps as investors focus on expanded AI partnership momentum ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade / price-target lift: Needham raised its price target to $400 and reiterated a Buy view, which supports further upside and flows from funds that track analyst momentum. Needham raises PT to $400
• Positive Sentiment: Sector narrative — “EDA’s ChatGPT moment”: Amplifying demand expectations for Cadence’s tools, analysts and media are highlighting agentic AI and automation as tailwinds for electronic design automation (EDA) vendors, which can lift sentiment and valuation multiples. Why Cadence's ‘ChatGPT moment' may have already arrived
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings positioning: Traders are likely building positions ahead of Cadence’s Q1 2026 webcast on April 27 — this can increase volume and amplify moves in either direction depending on results. Pre-earnings positioning mentioned
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/geopolitical context: Recent geopolitical jitters briefly pressure markets, but headlines indicate investors are “buying the dip” into high-quality software names like Cadence, providing short-term support. Why Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) Stock Is Up Today
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO John Wall sold 21,500 shares (via a Rule 10b5‑1 plan) in mid‑April; while pre-arranged plans limit signal strength, visible insider sales can be perceived as a modest negative by some investors. Cadence CFO John Wall Sells 21,500 Shares

Cadence Design Systems Stock Up 2.3%

CDNS opened at $325.84 on Wednesday. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $251.95 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $291.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.26, a PEG ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 1.04.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, research analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 6.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cadence Design Systems

In other Cadence Design Systems news, CFO John M. Wall sold 21,500 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.45, for a total value of $6,653,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 86,875 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,883,468.75. The trade was a 19.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.78, for a total transaction of $297,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 94,137 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,032,115.86. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 24,680 shares of company stock valued at $7,579,340. Corporate insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

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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