Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its ownership in Synopsys, Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 9.59% of the company's stock, valued at around $6.36 billion.
• Insider transactions include CEO Sassine Ghazi selling 11,366 shares and CFO Shelagh Glaser selling 7,310 shares, indicating a significant decrease in their ownership stakes.
• Numerous analysts have upgraded their price targets for Synopsys, with recommendations leaning towards a "buy" rating and an average target price forecast of $622.33.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,829,770 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 346,994 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.59% of Synopsys worth $6,359,747,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Synopsys by 275.0% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 60 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Synopsys in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Synopsys in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Synopsys by 33.3% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 104 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Synopsys in the first quarter valued at $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.47% of the company's stock.

Synopsys Stock Performance

Synopsys stock traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $619.42. 700,625 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,474,175. Synopsys, Inc. has a 12-month low of $365.74 and a 12-month high of $651.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 6.85 and a current ratio of 7.02. The stock has a market cap of $96.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $544.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.09.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Richard S. Mahoney sold 9,010 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive owned 1,485 shares in the company, valued at $699,746.85. This trade represents a 85.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sassine Ghazi sold 11,366 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $457.93, for a total value of $5,204,832.38. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,686 shares of company stock worth $13,001,048. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $660.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Synopsys in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Synopsys from $615.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Mizuho dropped their target price on Synopsys from $650.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $550.00 target price on Synopsys in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Synopsys in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $620.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $622.33.

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.