Westpac Banking Corp Sells 9,225 Shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 78.1%, leaving them with 2,586 shares valued at $658,000.
• In the 1st quarter, several other institutional investors increased their stakes in the company, with notable purchases by Merit Financial Group and Integrated Advisors Network, bringing their respective holdings to $805,000 and $1,023,000.
• Cadence Design Systems recently reported a 20.2% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, with earnings per share of $1.65, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Westpac Banking Corp cut its holdings in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS - Free Report) by 78.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,586 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 9,225 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Cadence Design Systems during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Valley National Advisers Inc. grew its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 707.1% during the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 113 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 1,400.0% during the fourth quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 120 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 36.5% during the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 172 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cadence Design Systems

In related news, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $358.72, for a total transaction of $358,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 104,499 shares in the company, valued at $37,485,881.28. This trade represents a 0.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.00, for a total transaction of $54,720.00. Following the sale, the director owned 8,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,435,040. The trade was a 2.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,207,671 in the last quarter. 1.99% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cadence Design Systems Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Cadence Design Systems stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $349.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,567,384 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,933,148. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $324.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.01. The stock has a market cap of $95.34 billion, a PE ratio of 94.56, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.82 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.56 and a 12 month high of $376.45.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The software maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 19.88% and a return on equity of 29.65%. The business's revenue was up 20.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $380.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Cadence Design Systems from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 20th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $355.00 target price (up from $328.00) on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $370.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $364.33.

Cadence Design Systems Company Profile

Cadence Design Systems, Inc provides software, hardware, services, and reusable integrated circuit (IC) design blocks worldwide. The company offers functional verification services, including emulation and prototyping hardware. Its functional verification offering consists of JasperGold, a formal verification platform; Xcelium, a parallel logic simulation platform; Palladium, an enterprise emulation platform; and Protium, a prototyping platform for chip verification.