Short Interest in NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) Grows By 24.2%

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,240,000 shares, an increase of 24.2% from the December 15th total of 7,440,000 shares. Approximately 3.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,330,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

NXP Semiconductors Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ NXPI traded up $4.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $215.36. 1,921,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,984,350. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. NXP Semiconductors has a 1-year low of $202.25 and a 1-year high of $296.08. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.39. The company has a market cap of $54.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 1.47.

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The semiconductor provider reported $3.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.43 by $0.02. NXP Semiconductors had a return on equity of 33.57% and a net margin of 20.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.31 earnings per share. NXP Semiconductors’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NXP Semiconductors will post 11.33 EPS for the current year.

NXP Semiconductors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $1.014 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. This represents a $4.06 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. NXP Semiconductors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 38.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NXP Semiconductors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in NXP Semiconductors by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,617 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 3,072.5% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 3,807 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $1,024,000 after acquiring an additional 3,687 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in NXP Semiconductors by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,086,245 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $292,246,000 after purchasing an additional 127,607 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in shares of NXP Semiconductors during the 2nd quarter valued at $258,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors in the 2nd quarter worth $1,858,000. 90.54% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NXPI has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on NXP Semiconductors from $250.00 to $235.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $280.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com lowered NXP Semiconductors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Loop Capital started coverage on NXP Semiconductors in a research note on Monday, November 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $270.81.

NXP Semiconductors Company Profile

NXP Semiconductors N.V. offers various semiconductor products. The company's product portfolio includes microcontrollers; application processors, including i.MX application processors, and i.MX 8 and 9 family of applications processors; communication processors; wireless connectivity solutions, such as near field communications, ultra-wideband, Bluetooth low-energy, Zigbee, and Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth integrated SoCs; analog and interface devices; radio frequency power amplifiers; and security controllers, as well as semiconductor-based environmental and inertial sensors, including pressure, inertial, magnetic, and gyroscopic sensors.