Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 4,500,000 shares, a growth of 28.9% from the November 15th total of 3,490,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,110,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Teradyne Price Performance

NASDAQ TER traded up $2.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $123.22. 3,953,845 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,225,055. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.64. Teradyne has a 12-month low of $92.29 and a 12-month high of $163.21. The firm has a market cap of $20.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.51.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $737.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $716.40 million. Teradyne had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 18.56%. Teradyne’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Teradyne will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teradyne announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, November 11th that permits the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 0.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Teradyne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, November 25th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 25th. Teradyne’s payout ratio is currently 15.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Richard John Burns sold 789 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.80, for a total value of $104,779.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 21,864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,903,539.20. This trade represents a 3.48 % 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, CEO Gregory Stephen Smith sold 3,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.80, for a total value of $409,024.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 80,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,721,740.80. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,494 shares of company stock valued at $596,803. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Teradyne

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TER. Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Teradyne by 189.6% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,144,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,218,000 after purchasing an additional 749,003 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Teradyne in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,129,000. Swedbank AB grew its position in shares of Teradyne by 198.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 641,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,145,000 after acquiring an additional 426,900 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Teradyne by 18.2% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,432,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $325,814,000 after purchasing an additional 374,522 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Teradyne by 5.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,880,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $921,458,000 after buying an additional 350,002 shares in the last quarter. 99.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TER has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Northland Securities lowered their price target on shares of Teradyne from $126.00 to $117.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised shares of Teradyne from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Teradyne from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Teradyne from $140.00 to $133.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on Teradyne from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Teradyne has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $142.62.

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.