Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Put Options on Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 8,233 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 91% compared to the typical daily volume of 4,304 put options.

Teradyne Price Performance

NASDAQ:TER traded up $2.36 on Friday, hitting $76.14. 159,844 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,563,384. The company has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $84.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.50. Teradyne has a 52 week low of $65.77 and a 52 week high of $163.21.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $685.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $680.54 million. Teradyne had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Teradyne will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teradyne declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, April 28th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on TER. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Teradyne in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $130.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Teradyne from $135.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Teradyne from $155.00 to $133.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Teradyne from $120.00 to $92.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Richard John Burns sold 445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.49, for a total value of $49,613.05. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,191 shares in the company, valued at $2,808,544.59. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Sanjay Mehta sold 1,384 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.49, for a total value of $154,302.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 36,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,077,858.24. This trade represents a 3.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,045 shares of company stock valued at $227,997. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Teradyne

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Teradyne in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Teradyne in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Teradyne by 200.0% during the 4th quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Berbice Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Teradyne by 200.0% during the 1st quarter. Berbice Capital Management LLC now owns 300 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Teradyne by 264.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 313 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. 99.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Teradyne

Teradyne, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells automated test systems and robotics products worldwide. It operates through four segments; Semiconductor Test, System Test, Robotics, and Wireless Test. The Semiconductor Test segment offers products and services for wafer level and device package testing of semiconductor devices in automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, smartphones, cloud, computer and electronic game, and other applications.