Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Teradyne, Inc. (NASDAQ:TER - Free Report) by 23.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 402,668 shares of the company's stock after selling 124,749 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.25% of Teradyne worth $53,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Teradyne in the second quarter worth $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Teradyne in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Teradyne during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Teradyne by 256.1% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 235 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its position in Teradyne by 76.1% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 273 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on TER. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Teradyne from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Craig Hallum lowered their target price on Teradyne from $124.00 to $111.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Teradyne from $140.00 to $133.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Teradyne from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Northland Securities dropped their target price on Teradyne from $126.00 to $117.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $147.25.

Insider Activity at Teradyne

In related news, Director Mercedes Johnson sold 625 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.80, for a total transaction of $83,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,110,590.40. This represents a 3.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Gregory Stephen Smith sold 3,080 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.80, for a total value of $409,024.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 80,736 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,721,740.80. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,494 shares of company stock worth $596,803 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Teradyne Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TER traded up $2.52 during trading on Monday, hitting $128.47. The stock had a trading volume of 2,080,486 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,107,104. Teradyne, Inc. has a 12-month low of $92.29 and a 12-month high of $163.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.02.

Teradyne (NASDAQ:TER - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.12. Teradyne had a net margin of 18.75% and a return on equity of 18.56%. The firm had revenue of $737.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $716.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Teradyne, Inc. will post 3.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Teradyne Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 25th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 25th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Teradyne's payout ratio is 15.24%.

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

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.