NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Trading Up 2.1% – Here’s Why

NVIDIA Co. (NASDAQ:NVDA)’s stock price shot up 2.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $143.78 and last traded at $143.41. 65,167,602 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 413,480,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $140.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NVDA. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $138.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $115.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NVIDIA currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.07.

NVIDIA Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $124.25 and its 200 day moving average is $114.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 82.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 3.79 and a current ratio of 4.27.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The computer hardware maker reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $30.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $28.74 billion. NVIDIA had a net margin of 55.04% and a return on equity of 113.50%. NVIDIA’s revenue for the quarter was up 122.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that NVIDIA Co. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

NVIDIA Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.01 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 12th. This represents a $0.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.03%. NVIDIA’s payout ratio is currently 2.34%.

NVIDIA declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, August 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the computer hardware maker to purchase up to 1.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at NVIDIA

In other news, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 155,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total transaction of $20,501,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,100,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,071,402,475.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 155,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total value of $20,501,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,100,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,402,475.59. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Tench Coxe sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.27, for a total transaction of $119,270,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,852,480 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,025,289.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,636,270 shares of company stock valued at $305,367,927 in the last ninety days. 4.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On NVIDIA

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truepoint Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 914.1% during the 2nd quarter. Truepoint Inc. now owns 12,990 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $1,605,000 after purchasing an additional 11,709 shares during the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 683.9% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 238,829 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $29,505,000 after acquiring an additional 208,362 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp lifted its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 825.9% during the 2nd quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 84,133 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $10,394,000 after acquiring an additional 75,046 shares during the period. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 1,452.1% during the 2nd quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,512 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 7,028 shares during the period. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of NVIDIA by 898.4% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 15,857,702 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $1,959,061,000 after acquiring an additional 14,269,378 shares during the period. 65.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications.