Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) Short Interest Up 55.6% in March

Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,290,000 shares, an increase of 55.6% from the February 28th total of 7,900,000 shares. Currently, 8.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Entegris from $150.00 to $141.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Entegris in a research report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Entegris from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Entegris from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $124.88.

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Insider Transactions at Entegris

In other news, SVP Clinton M. Haris sold 12,652 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.92, for a total transaction of $1,352,751.84. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,722,954.40. The trade was a 26.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Olivier Blachier sold 984 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total value of $106,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 10,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,524. This represents a 8.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.67% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Entegris

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ENTG. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Entegris by 265.5% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,122 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 815 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Entegris by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,596 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $852,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new position in shares of Entegris during the fourth quarter worth about $3,351,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in Entegris in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,140,000. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Entegris by 192.0% in the 4th quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 153,900 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $15,245,000 after buying an additional 101,200 shares in the last quarter.

Entegris Trading Down 12.5 %

Shares of ENTG traded down $10.69 on Thursday, hitting $75.13. 2,498,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,105,556. Entegris has a 1 year low of $74.52 and a 1 year high of $147.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $100.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 3.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.07. Entegris had a net margin of 9.03% and a return on equity of 12.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Entegris will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Entegris Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Entegris's dividend payout ratio is presently 20.73%.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions in North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It operates in three segments: Materials Solutions (MS); Microcontamination Control (MC); and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH).