Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) Trading 12.1% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Synaptics stock rose about 12.1% midday after Susquehanna raised its price target from $105 to $125 and reiterated a positive rating; shares traded as high as $114.59 and were last near $118.56.
• Analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy (10 Buys, 2 Holds, 2 Sells) with a consensus target of $104, notably below Susquehanna’s new $125 target.
• Insiders sold 7,348 shares (~$618,827) in the past three months under Rule 10b5‑1 plans—insiders own just 0.50% of the stock—while institutional investors hold about 99.43%.

Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 12.1% during mid-day trading on Friday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $105.00 to $125.00. Susquehanna currently has a positive rating on the stock. Synaptics traded as high as $114.59 and last traded at $118.5580. Approximately 134,606 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 786,551 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.80.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on SYNA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Synaptics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Synaptics from $95.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Craig Hallum reissued a "hold" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Synaptics in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Synaptics in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Synaptics in a report on Friday, February 6th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $104.00.

Insider Transactions at Synaptics

In related news, insider Vikram Gupta sold 1,548 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.90, for a total value of $143,809.20. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 87,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,117,787.80. The trade was a 1.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Lisa Bodensteiner sold 1,798 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.87, for a total value of $147,202.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 65,183 shares in the company, valued at $5,336,532.21. This represents a 2.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 sold a total of 7,348 shares of company stock worth $618,827 over the last three months. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Synaptics by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,529,713 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $446,241,000 after buying an additional 594,235 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Synaptics by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,039,202 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $132,181,000 after acquiring an additional 9,335 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd boosted its position in shares of Synaptics by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 1,536,228 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $113,712,000 after acquiring an additional 137,926 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Synaptics by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,000,456 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $74,066,000 after acquiring an additional 17,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Synaptics by 469.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 814,684 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $60,304,000 after acquiring an additional 671,647 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.43% of the company's stock.

Synaptics Trading Up 12.7%

The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -74.58, a P/E/G ratio of 4.06 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 2.33 and a current ratio of 2.93. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.86.

Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $302.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.31 million. Synaptics had a positive return on equity of 4.77% and a negative net margin of 5.41%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.92 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Synaptics Incorporated will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Synaptics Company Profile

Synaptics Incorporated is a global developer and supplier of human interface solutions for computing, networking, communications, and entertainment devices. The company specializes in the design, development and integration of custom chips and software that enable intuitive, natural user interactions. Synaptics solutions support touch, display, audio and biometrics functions, facilitating seamless human-to-machine interfaces across a broad range of end markets.

Key product offerings include touch controllers for laptops and tablets, capacitive touchscreens and display drivers for mobile devices, fingerprint sensors and secure authentication modules, as well as advanced audio processing and voice enhancement technologies.

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