NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Cut to “Hold” at Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum downgraded shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has $180.00 target price on the computer hardware maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Melius Research lowered NVIDIA from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $315.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday. KGI Securities raised their price target on NVIDIA from $335.00 to $345.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Wednesday. New Street Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $205.00 target price on shares of NVIDIA and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have assigned a Buy rating and thirteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.89.

NVIDIA Trading Down 2.0%

NVDA traded down $3.34 on Thursday, hitting $162.85. The company had a trading volume of 363,372,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 196,617,360. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $204.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.85, a current ratio of 4.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. NVIDIA has a 12-month low of $148.80 and a 12-month high of $243.37. The company has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.21.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a return on equity of 96.04% and a net margin of 63.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 105.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that NVIDIA will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

NVIDIA Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. NVIDIA’s payout ratio is presently 12.64%.

NVIDIA declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 28th that permits the company to buy back $150 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other NVIDIA news, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 622,239 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.62, for a total value of $144,122,997.18. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,336,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,187,310.22. This represents a 21.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,460 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $222.80, for a total value of $6,786,488.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at $598,810,648. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their position. 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 1,766,118 shares of company stock worth $399,450,353 in the last ninety days. 3.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of NVIDIA

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,025,075,347 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $234,355,574,000 after purchasing an additional 15,291,910 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 195,366,864 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $39,090,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,165,875 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 10.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 133,768,018 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $23,329,141,000 after purchasing an additional 12,575,177 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in NVIDIA by 2.3% during the second quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 91,954,159 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $18,399,108,000 after buying an additional 2,045,101 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in NVIDIA by 0.6% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 94,521,253 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $16,479,126,000 after buying an additional 555,221 shares during the period. 65.27% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about NVIDIA

Investors following NVDA have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite cutting its price target to $300, Rosenblatt Securities maintained a Buy rating; other coverage also points to continued investor optimism about NVIDIA’s long-term growth potential. Rosenblatt Securities rating
• Positive Sentiment: Investors will look to the November 17 earnings report for evidence that AI demand remains robust. Articles cite strong infrastructure spending and a $108 billion revenue outlook as potential supports for the business. NVIDIA earnings preview
• Negative Sentiment: Reports connecting the leadership scandal to scrutiny of possible chip diversions to China have raised risks of regulatory action and reputational damage. The allegations remain under investigation, while U.S. lawmakers are seeking testimony. Congressional scrutiny

NVIDIA Company Profile

NVIDIA Corporation develops graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerated computing platforms and related software. Founded in 1993, the company first became widely known for GPUs used in PC gaming and professional graphics. Its technology now also supports artificial intelligence, scientific computing and other data-intensive applications. NVIDIA’s offerings include GeForce products for gaming, data-center GPUs and systems for AI workloads, and networking products that connect computing infrastructure.