Ground Swell Capital LLC Makes New $1.13 Million Investment in NXP Semiconductors N.V. $NXPI

Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,766 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000. NXP Semiconductors accounts for about 2.7% of Ground Swell Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NXPI. Harbour Investments Inc. bought a new stake in NXP Semiconductors during the 3rd quarter valued at $329,000. FDx Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in NXP Semiconductors in the third quarter worth about $298,000. IFG Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,751,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors in the 3rd quarter worth about $488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.54% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony R. Foxx sold 400 shares of NXP Semiconductors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $263.60, for a total value of $105,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,942 shares in the company, valued at $775,511.20. The trade was a 11.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Christopher L. Jensen sold 3,355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.00, for a total transaction of $805,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $69,120. The trade was a 92.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 6,398 shares of company stock worth $1,574,523 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $210.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on NXP Semiconductors from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of NXP Semiconductors in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered NXP Semiconductors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.78.

NXP Semiconductors Stock Down 0.8%

NXPI stock traded down $2.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $265.09. 4,320,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,620,579. The stock has a market cap of $66.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.12 and a quick ratio of 1.47. NXP Semiconductors N.V. has a 1 year low of $183.00 and a 1 year high of $339.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $240.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $247.33.

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor provider reported $4.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.12 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $3.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.76 billion. NXP Semiconductors had a net margin of 23.40% and a return on equity of 28.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.11 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that NXP Semiconductors N.V. will post 13.81 EPS for the current year.

NXP Semiconductors announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, October 27th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

NXP Semiconductors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 8th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 16th were issued a $1.0140 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 16th. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. NXP Semiconductors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.92%.

About NXP Semiconductors

NXP Semiconductors is a global semiconductor company headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. It develops and supplies chips and related technologies for automotive, industrial and Internet of Things, mobile, and communications infrastructure applications. Its products include microcontrollers and processors, analog and mixed-signal components, connectivity solutions, and security technologies. In the automotive sector, NXP supplies technologies used in vehicle networking, radar, and safety systems; its other offerings support applications such as secure identification and near-field communication.