Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Holdings in Power Integrations, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWI)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lessened its stake in Power Integrations, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWI - Free Report) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,384 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 5,326 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.08% of Power Integrations worth $2,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Power Integrations by 136.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,899 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 2,250 shares in the last quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Power Integrations in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,137,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Power Integrations by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 65,173 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 4,152 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Power Integrations by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,503,132 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $92,743,000 after purchasing an additional 82,681 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Power Integrations during the fourth quarter worth $433,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Power Integrations news, CEO Balu Balakrishnan sold 12,507 shares of Power Integrations stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.64, for a total value of $758,424.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 600,002 shares in the company, valued at $36,384,121.28. The trade was a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Sandeep Nayyar sold 5,152 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.75, for a total transaction of $312,984.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 110,394 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,706,435.50. The trade was a 4.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 52,105 shares of company stock valued at $3,075,198 in the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Power Integrations Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of POWI traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $51.13. 407,014 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 456,397. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of 89.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.05. Power Integrations, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.78 and a fifty-two week high of $79.13.

Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.12). Power Integrations had a return on equity of 4.48% and a net margin of 7.69%. Research analysts predict that Power Integrations, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Power Integrations Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.21 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. Power Integrations's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 147.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on POWI shares. StockNews.com cut Power Integrations from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $78.00 price objective on shares of Power Integrations in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Power Integrations from $90.00 to $70.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.83.

Power Integrations Company Profile

Power Integrations, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion worldwide. The company provides a range of alternating current to direct current power conversion products that address power supply ranging from less than one watt of output to approximately 500 watts of output for mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, LED lighting, and various other consumer and industrial applications, as well as power conversion in high-power applications comprising industrial motors, solar and wind-power systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage DC transmission systems.