Handelsbanken Fonder AB Cuts Stake in Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its position in shares of Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER - Free Report) by 24.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 72,132 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,993 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Teradyne were worth $9,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Teradyne by 59.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,928,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $620,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846,079 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Teradyne by 1,767.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 923,068 shares of the company's stock worth $116,233,000 after purchasing an additional 873,626 shares in the last quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Teradyne by 189.6% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Teradyne during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,129,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in Teradyne by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,825,897 shares of the company's stock worth $355,837,000 after purchasing an additional 393,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Teradyne

In other Teradyne news, CEO Gregory Stephen Smith sold 3,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $400,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 74,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,705,800. This trade represents a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Sanjay Mehta sold 614 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.00, for a total value of $62,628.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 30,446 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,105,492. The trade was a 1.98 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,013,134 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Teradyne Stock Performance

TER stock traded down $2.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.35. 2,292,461 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,601,563. Teradyne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.80 and a 52 week high of $163.21. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $122.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The company reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.91 by $0.04. Teradyne had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 19.23%. As a group, analysts predict that Teradyne, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Teradyne announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, November 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Teradyne Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Teradyne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on Teradyne from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Teradyne from $180.00 to $150.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $160.00 price objective on shares of Teradyne in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Teradyne from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.77.

Teradyne 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.