Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 14,383 Shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Synopsys, Inc. (NASDAQ:SNPS - Free Report) by 2,308.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,006 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,383 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Synopsys were worth $7,283,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Synopsys by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,948,473 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,518,637,000 after buying an additional 119,057 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Synopsys by 1.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,281,867 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,656,005,000 after purchasing an additional 61,799 shares in the last quarter. Edgewood Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Synopsys by 18.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgewood Management LLC now owns 3,069,848 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,554,540,000 after purchasing an additional 487,025 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Synopsys by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,605,001 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $791,923,000 after purchasing an additional 335,993 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Synopsys during the 3rd quarter worth $633,469,000. 85.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SNPS. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $635.00 target price on shares of Synopsys in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Berenberg Bank initiated coverage on shares of Synopsys in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. They set a "buy" rating and a $660.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Synopsys from $570.00 to $540.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Synopsys in a report on Monday, January 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Synopsys from $644.00 to $630.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $641.82.

Synopsys Stock Up 2.1 %

SNPS traded up $10.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $526.70. 1,240,502 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 870,192. The stock has a market cap of $81.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.27, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.12. The business's 50 day moving average is $519.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $526.11. Synopsys, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $457.52 and a fifty-two week high of $629.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CRO Richard S. Mahoney sold 20,838 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $506.01, for a total transaction of $10,544,236.38. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 1,460 shares in the company, valued at approximately $738,774.60. The trade was a 93.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

About Synopsys

Synopsys, Inc provides electronic design automation software products used to design and test integrated circuits. It operates in three segments: Design Automation, Design IP, and Software Integrity. The company offers Digital and Custom IC Design solution that provides digital design implementation solutions; Verification solution that offers virtual prototyping, static and formal verification, simulation, emulation, field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based prototyping, and debug solutions; and FPGA design products that are programmed to perform specific functions.