Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $122.05, but opened at $102.00. Teradyne shares last traded at $110.66, with a volume of 1,991,735 shares trading hands.

Specifically, CFO Sanjay Mehta sold 1,789 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.51, for a total value of $215,592.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,013,947.08. The trade was a 5.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Richard John Burns sold 407 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.51, for a total value of $49,047.57. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,502,269.64. This trade represents a 1.92 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TER. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Teradyne from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 27th. Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $124.00 to $111.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $140.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Teradyne from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $149.31.

Teradyne Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $125.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.71. The firm has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.46.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.04. Teradyne had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 18.56%. As a group, analysts forecast that Teradyne, Inc. will post 3.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teradyne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Teradyne’s payout ratio is presently 15.24%.

Teradyne declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, November 11th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Teradyne

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Teradyne during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in Teradyne during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Teradyne by 256.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 235 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in Teradyne during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Teradyne in the third quarter valued at approximately $52,000. 99.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Teradyne Company Profile

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.