Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 133,350 Shares of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG - Free Report) by 28.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 601,268 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after buying an additional 133,350 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.40% of Entegris worth $72,044,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ENTG. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Entegris by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,463 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Entegris by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,105 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group raised its position in Entegris by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,615 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its position in shares of Entegris by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 7,552 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $905,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Entegris by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $363,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period.

Entegris Trading Up 2.9 %

ENTG stock traded up $3.74 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $133.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,287,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,398,052. Entegris, Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.13 and a 1 year high of $146.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 62.61 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $134.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 2.02 and a current ratio of 3.35.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $771.03 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.24 million. Entegris had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.94%. The firm's revenue was down 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.65 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Entegris, Inc. will post 3.3 EPS for the current year.

Entegris Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 1st will be issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 30th. Entegris's dividend payout ratio is currently 19.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ENTG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Entegris from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Entegris in a research report on Monday. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Entegris from $90.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Entegris in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Entegris from $136.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.10.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Michael Sauer sold 1,897 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.54, for a total transaction of $251,428.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,779 shares in the company, valued at $235,788.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Michael Sauer sold 1,897 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.54, for a total transaction of $251,428.38. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,788.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael Besnard sold 12,667 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.78, for a total transaction of $1,719,925.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,386,721.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,082 shares of company stock worth $5,606,849 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions in North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It operates in three segments: Materials Solutions (MS); Microcontamination Control (MC); and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH).