Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Synaptics Incorporated $SYNA

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in Synaptics Incorporated (NASDAQ:SYNA) by 37.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,942 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 5,993 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Synaptics worth $2,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Synaptics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $153,998,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in shares of Synaptics during the second quarter valued at approximately $133,656,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Synaptics by 469.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 814,684 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $60,304,000 after purchasing an additional 671,647 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA bought a new position in shares of Synaptics in the second quarter worth approximately $56,649,000. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of Synaptics in the second quarter worth $47,394,000. Institutional investors own 99.43% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Synaptics from $140.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Synaptics from $160.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $135.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Synaptics in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised Synaptics from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Synaptics from $160.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.91.

Synaptics Trading Up 1.8%

NASDAQ:SYNA opened at $97.68 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.98. Synaptics Incorporated has a 12 month low of $58.28 and a 12 month high of $149.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.72 and a beta of 1.94.

Synaptics (NASDAQ:SYNA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The software maker reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.02. Synaptics had a negative net margin of 41.00% and a positive return on equity of 4.37%. The company had revenue of $308.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $305.32 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. Synaptics’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Synaptics Incorporated will post 1.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Synaptics

In related news, insider Esther Song sold 437 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.68, for a total value of $45,308.16. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 14,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,522,333.44. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Lisa Bodensteiner sold 6,056 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.62, for a total value of $627,522.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 78,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,148,055.08. This trade represents a 7.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 15,867 shares of company stock valued at $1,624,996. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Synaptics Company Profile

Synaptics Incorporated is a global developer and supplier of human interface solutions for computing, networking, communications, and entertainment devices. The company specializes in the design, development and integration of custom chips and software that enable intuitive, natural user interactions. Synaptics solutions support touch, display, audio and biometrics functions, facilitating seamless human-to-machine interfaces across a broad range of end markets.

Key product offerings include touch controllers for laptops and tablets, capacitive touchscreens and display drivers for mobile devices, fingerprint sensors and secure authentication modules, as well as advanced audio processing and voice enhancement technologies.