Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG - Free Report) by 130.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,379,963 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 781,955 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.91% of Entegris worth $155,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Entegris in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Entegris in the second quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Entegris during the second quarter worth $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Entegris during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Entegris by 221.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 347 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the period.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ENTG. Craig Hallum lowered their price target on Entegris from $150.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Entegris from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Entegris from $145.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Entegris from $130.00 to $115.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Entegris from $130.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Entegris presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $135.40.

Entegris Stock Performance

Shares of ENTG traded up $1.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $99.46. The stock had a trading volume of 4,081,605 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,729,963. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.59. Entegris, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.92 and a fifty-two week high of $147.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.87, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.83 and a current ratio of 2.92.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.01). Entegris had a return on equity of 12.24% and a net margin of 7.13%. The firm had revenue of $807.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.44 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company's revenue was down 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Entegris, Inc. will post 2.99 EPS for the current year.

Entegris Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 30th were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 30th. Entegris's payout ratio is currently 26.49%.

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).