Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 168,245 Shares of Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER - Free Report) by 41.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 234,423 shares of the company's stock after selling 168,245 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Teradyne worth $29,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of TER. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Teradyne by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,928,143 shares of the company's stock worth $620,552,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846,079 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 873,626 shares during the period. Alkeon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Teradyne by 189.6% during 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 during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Teradyne during the 3rd quarter valued at $91,129,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 393,175 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Teradyne

In related news, CFO Sanjay Mehta sold 1,789 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.51, for a total transaction of $215,592.39. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,308 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,013,947.08. This represents a 5.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Gregory Stephen Smith sold 3,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $400,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 74,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,705,800. This trade represents a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,479 shares of company stock valued at $1,013,134. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Teradyne Trading Up 3.6 %

TER stock traded up $4.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.36. The stock had a trading volume of 696,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,548,379. Teradyne, Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.80 and a 52 week high of $163.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $124.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.70, a P/E/G 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 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Teradyne, Inc. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Teradyne declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 0.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Teradyne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Teradyne's dividend payout ratio is presently 14.41%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TER. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Teradyne from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $117.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Teradyne from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group cut their price target on Teradyne from $160.00 to $155.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Northland Securities decreased their target price on shares of Teradyne from $154.00 to $140.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Northland Capmk raised 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 assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.77.

Teradyne Company 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.