Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG - Free Report) by 45.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 402,367 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 340,521 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.27% of Entegris worth $39,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ENTG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Entegris by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,202,146 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,505,925,000 after acquiring an additional 169,180 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Entegris in the 4th quarter valued at $445,988,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Entegris by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,354 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $259,176,000 after purchasing an additional 291,893 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Entegris by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,560,896 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $253,225,000 after purchasing an additional 22,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Entegris by 47.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,550,942 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $153,636,000 after buying an additional 500,581 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ENTG. Mizuho decreased their price target on Entegris from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com cut Entegris from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Entegris from $141.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Entegris in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.50.

Entegris Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ENTG traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $68.73. 2,973,305 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,290,136. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.08, a quick ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. Entegris, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.75 and a 1 year high of $147.57.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.07. Entegris had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 9.03%. On average, research analysts forecast that Entegris, Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Entegris Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 21st. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Entegris's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.73%.

Insider Activity at Entegris

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

Entegris Company Profile

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).