AlphaQuest LLC Sells 2,194 Shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS)

AlphaQuest LLC lowered its position in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) by 67.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,048 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,194 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $315,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,237,569 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $672,300,000 after acquiring an additional 216,075 shares in the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 50.1% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 5,289 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares in the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 64.3% during the 4th quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 783,906 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $235,625,000 after buying an additional 306,887 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Cadence Design Systems by 132.1% in the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 139,288 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,850,000 after buying an additional 79,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,046,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.85% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Anirudh Devgan sold 5,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.04, for a total transaction of $1,799,916.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,987,930.96. This trade represents a 9.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John M. Wall sold 4,224 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.03, for a total transaction of $1,305,342.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,248 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,038,509.44. The trade was a 12.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 105,245 shares of company stock valued at $32,534,498. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Cadence Design Systems Stock Performance

CDNS opened at $247.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.27, a current ratio of 2.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.09 and a 12-month high of $328.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $282.52 and a 200-day moving average of $284.12. The stock has a market cap of $67.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.10, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 1.05.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The software maker reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.82 by ($0.33). Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 22.74% and a return on equity of 29.24%. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.35 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $365.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Cadence Design Systems from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.92.

Cadence Design Systems Company Profile

Cadence Design Systems, Inc provides software, hardware, services, and reusable integrated circuit (IC) design blocks worldwide. The company offers functional verification services, including emulation and prototyping hardware. Its functional verification offering consists of JasperGold, a formal verification platform; Xcelium, a parallel logic simulation platform; Palladium, an enterprise emulation platform; and Protium, a prototyping platform for chip verification.