Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $30.28 Million Stock Holdings in Synopsys, Inc. $SNPS

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Synopsys, Inc. by 11.5%, selling 9,132 shares and holding a total of 70,597 shares valued at approximately $30.3 million.
• Multiple analysts have recently increased their price targets for Synopsys, with Bank of America raising its target from $575 to $625 and Piper Sandler raising it from $615 to $660, both maintaining a "buy" or "overweight" rating.
• Insider activity includes significant sales by executives, with CRO Richard S. Mahoney selling 9,010 shares, representing an 85.85% decrease in his ownership, and CEO Sassine Ghazi selling 11,366 shares, marking a 13.70% reduction of his stake.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS - Free Report) by 11.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,597 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 9,132 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Synopsys were worth $30,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Synopsys by 275.0% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Synopsys by 441.7% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 65 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synopsys in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Synopsys in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Synopsys by 33.3% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 104 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. 85.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synopsys Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of SNPS traded down $8.65 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $603.52. The stock had a trading volume of 992,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,407,591. Synopsys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $365.74 and a fifty-two week high of $651.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $580.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $502.95. The firm has a market cap of $93.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.96 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 (NASDAQ:SNPS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 net margin of 34.77% and a return on equity of 17.09%. The company had revenue of $1.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.00 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Synopsys, Inc. will post 10.64 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on SNPS shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Synopsys in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $660.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Synopsys in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Synopsys from $625.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $715.00 price objective (up previously from $540.00) on shares of Synopsys in a research note on Monday, August 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Synopsys from $540.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $634.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Shelagh Glaser sold 7,310 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $485.72, for a total transaction of $3,550,613.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,291 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,144.52. This trade represents a 32.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sassine Ghazi sold 11,366 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $457.93, for a total transaction of $5,204,832.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 71,589 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,782,750.77. This represents a 13.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 27,686 shares of company stock worth $13,001,048. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Synopsys Company Profile

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.