Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) Stock Price Up 5.3% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Synaptics shares rose 5.3% to about $101.99, although trading volume was roughly 90% below the average daily level.
• Analysts remain cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $123.91, despite several firms maintaining Buy or Strong Buy views.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations with $1.23 in adjusted earnings per share and $308 million in revenue; revenue increased 8.9% year over year, while institutional investors own 99.43% of shares.

Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 5.3% on Friday. The company traded as high as $101.15 and last traded at $101.9860. Approximately 83,392 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 855,511 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on SYNA. Northland Securities downgraded shares of Synaptics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on Synaptics from $160.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Craig Hallum set a $105.00 price target on Synaptics in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $135.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Synaptics in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Synaptics from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $123.91.

Synaptics Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.12 and a beta of 1.94. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $102.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.51.

Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $308.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.32 million. Synaptics had a negative net margin of 41.00% and a positive return on equity of 4.37%. The company's revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Synaptics Incorporated will post 1.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synaptics news, insider Esther Song sold 437 shares of Synaptics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.68, for a total transaction of $45,308.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 14,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,522,333.44. The trade was a 2.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Lisa Bodensteiner sold 6,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.62, for a total value of $627,522.72. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,634 shares in the company, valued at $8,148,055.08. The trade was a 7.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 15,804 shares of company stock worth $1,598,162 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Synaptics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $153,998,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Synaptics during the second quarter valued at approximately $133,656,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Synaptics by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,000,456 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $74,066,000 after buying an additional 17,088 shares during the period. Trigran Investments Inc. raised its stake in Synaptics by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Trigran Investments Inc. now owns 692,587 shares of the software maker's stock worth $51,265,000 after buying an additional 31,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new stake in Synaptics during the second quarter worth $56,649,000. 99.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Synaptics Company Profile

Synaptics Incorporated NASDAQ: SYNA is a fabless semiconductor company that develops technologies for human-machine interaction, connectivity and edge computing. Its solutions are used in consumer electronics, automotive systems, enterprise equipment and other connected devices.

The company's products include touchpads, touchscreens, fingerprint sensors, display and video interface technologies, and related human-interface solutions. Synaptics also develops wireless connectivity products, including technologies supporting Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other connected-device applications, as well as semiconductor platforms designed to enable edge artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, Synaptics serves customers and original equipment manufacturers globally.

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