NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) Short Interest Update

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) was the target of a large decline in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,450,000 shares, a decline of 20.7% from the July 15th total of 4,350,000 shares. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of NXP Semiconductors

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NXPI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors during the fourth quarter worth $762,077,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in NXP Semiconductors by 893.2% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,332,578 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $535,747,000 after purchasing an additional 2,097,727 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 17.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,921,432 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $3,201,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,909,898 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado bought a new stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors during the fourth quarter worth about $164,044,000. Finally, Kodai Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $125,319,000. 90.54% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NXPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. StockNews.com lowered NXP Semiconductors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on NXP Semiconductors from $300.00 to $370.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of NXP Semiconductors in a research note on Monday, May 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $325.00 price target for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, NXP Semiconductors currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.89.

NXP Semiconductors Stock Performance

NXPI stock traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $254.44. 1,524,003 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,261,169. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.92. The firm 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. NXP Semiconductors has a 12 month low of $167.21 and a 12 month high of $296.08. 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 (NASDAQ:NXPI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The semiconductor provider reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $3.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. NXP Semiconductors had a net margin of 21.21% and a return on equity of 35.65%. NXP Semiconductors’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that NXP Semiconductors will post 12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

NXP Semiconductors Dividend Announcement

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

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.