First Trust Advisors LP Sells 40,734 Shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS) by 14.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 240,945 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 40,734 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Synopsys were worth $116,945,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Synopsys by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,043,995 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $509,261,000 after buying an additional 143,284 shares in the last quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Synopsys by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP now owns 201,460 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $97,725,000 after acquiring an additional 47,527 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in Synopsys by 199.2% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 15,062 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,627,000 after purchasing an additional 10,028 shares during the period. Janney Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Synopsys in the fourth quarter valued at $6,082,000. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP raised its holdings in shares of Synopsys by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 24,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $12,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.47% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Synopsys news, CEO Sassine Ghazi sold 11,366 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.75, for a total transaction of $5,270,982.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 70,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,890,077.50. This represents a 13.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Geus Aart De sold 15,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $444.42, for a total transaction of $6,979,616.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 116,671 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,850,925.82. This trade represents a 11.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Synopsys Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ SNPS opened at $413.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.91 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $446.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.09. Synopsys, Inc. has a twelve month low of $365.74 and a twelve month high of $624.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on SNPS. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Synopsys from $540.00 to $520.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Synopsys from $650.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Synopsys from $625.00 to $590.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Synopsys in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Synopsys from $690.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Synopsys presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $618.31.

Synopsys Profile

Synopsys, Inc provides electronic design automation software products used to design and test integrated circuits. It operates in three segments: Design Automation, Design IP, and Software Integrity. The company offers Digital and Custom IC Design solution that provides digital design implementation solutions; Verification solution that offers virtual prototyping, static and formal verification, simulation, emulation, field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based prototyping, and debug solutions; and FPGA design products that are programmed to perform specific functions.