Teradyne Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:TER)

Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 7,279 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 45% compared to the average volume of 5,022 put options.

Teradyne Price Performance

Shares of TER stock opened at $222.48 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $188.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.06. Teradyne has a 1-year low of $65.77 and a 1-year high of $229.66. The firm has a market cap of $34.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 80.90, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.84.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $769.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $744.20 million. Teradyne had a net margin of 15.49% and a return on equity of 18.04%. Teradyne’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.90 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Teradyne will post 3.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Teradyne Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 17th. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. Teradyne’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.45%.

Insider Transactions at Teradyne

In other Teradyne news, CEO Gregory Stephen Smith sold 1,108 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.31, for a total value of $223,051.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 93,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,804,165.79. This trade represents a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 3,324 shares of company stock valued at $583,639 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Teradyne

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Teradyne by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Teradyne by 5.6% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in Teradyne by 43.2% during the third quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 262 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Equitable Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Teradyne by 3.2% in the third quarter. Equitable Holdings Inc. now owns 2,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Teradyne by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 99.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Teradyne from $100.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Zacks Research lowered Teradyne from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Susquehanna reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Teradyne in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $175.00 target price on shares of Teradyne in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Teradyne from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $185.75.

About Teradyne

Teradyne, Inc is a global supplier of automatic test equipment and related services principally used to test semiconductors, wireless products and complex electronic systems. Founded in 1960, the company is headquartered in North Reading, Massachusetts, and has a long history of developing capital equipment and software that help semiconductor manufacturers, electronics OEMs and contract manufacturers validate product performance and reliability during design and production.

The company’s product portfolio centers on automatic test equipment (ATE) and system-level test solutions that address chip- and board-level validation, burn-in and reliability screening.