Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER)

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 7,444 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 200% compared to the average volume of 2,481 call options.

In other news, VP Charles Jeffrey Gray sold 18,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.34, for a total value of $2,241,477.94. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 46,138 shares in the company, valued at $5,459,970.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark E. Jagiela sold 52,992 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.10, for a total transaction of $6,258,355.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 334,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,555,351.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 166,450 shares of company stock worth $20,011,574 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Teradyne by 1,283.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 332 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC bought a new stake in Teradyne in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Motco bought a new stake in Teradyne in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Clearview Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Teradyne during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Teradyne during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 94.85% of the company’s stock.

TER has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Teradyne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 11th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Teradyne from $90.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Teradyne in a research note on Thursday, December 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on Teradyne from $115.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target (up previously from $128.00) on shares of Teradyne in a research note on Monday, January 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $118.06.

Shares of TER traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $131.17. The company had a trading volume of 95,199 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,841. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 3.05 and a current ratio of 3.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.35. Teradyne has a 52-week low of $42.87 and a 52-week high of $147.90.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 27th. The company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $758.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $721.22 million. Teradyne had a return on equity of 44.90% and a net margin of 24.02%. Teradyne’s quarterly revenue was up 15.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Teradyne will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 19th will be given a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 18th. Teradyne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.99%.

About Teradyne

Teradyne, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, sells, and supports automatic test equipment worldwide. The company operates through Semiconductor Test, System Test, Industrial Automation, and Wireless Test segments. The Semiconductor Test segment offers products and services for wafer level and device package testing in automotive, industrial, communications, consumer, computer and electronic game, and other applications.

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