Short Interest in NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) Drops By 20.7%

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,450,000 shares, a decrease of 20.7% from the July 15th total of 4,350,000 shares. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

NXP Semiconductors Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NXPI stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $254.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,524,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,261,169. The company has a current ratio of 2.21, a quick ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. NXP Semiconductors has a one year low of $167.21 and a one year high of $296.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $252.92.

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The semiconductor provider reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.38. NXP Semiconductors had a net margin of 21.21% and a return on equity of 35.65%. The business had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that NXP Semiconductors will post 12 EPS for the current year.

NXP Semiconductors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 13th were paid a $1.014 dividend. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, June 13th. NXP Semiconductors’s payout ratio is currently 37.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Julie Southern bought 146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.54 per share, for a total transaction of $37,600.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,909,429.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Julie Southern acquired 146 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $257.54 per share, for a total transaction of $37,600.84. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,297 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,909,429.38. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kurt Sievers sold 8,548 shares of NXP Semiconductors stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.75, for a total transaction of $2,357,111.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 177,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,052,891.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NXP Semiconductors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 50.7% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,560 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $2,572,000 after buying an additional 3,216 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in NXP Semiconductors by 6.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 65,103 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $17,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 1.5% during the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 30,835 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $8,297,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,097,000. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 36,598 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $9,848,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. 90.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on NXP Semiconductors from $330.00 to $310.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $230.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $275.00 to $271.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.89.

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors N.V. offers various semiconductor products. The company's product portfolio includes microcontrollers; application processors, including i.MX application processors, and i.MX 8 and 9 family of applications processors; communication processors; wireless connectivity solutions, such as near field communications, ultra-wideband, Bluetooth low-energy, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth integrated SoCs; analog and interface devices; radio frequency power amplifiers; and security controllers, as well as semiconductor-based environmental and inertial sensors, including pressure, inertial, magnetic, and gyroscopic sensors.