Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Separately, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $78.00 price objective on shares of Power Integrations in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.00.

Power Integrations Trading Down 6.5 %

Shares of POWI stock opened at $50.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 89.44, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 1.11. Power Integrations has a 12 month low of $50.95 and a 12 month high of $79.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.73.

Power Integrations (NASDAQ:POWI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.12). Power Integrations had a net margin of 7.69% and a return on equity of 4.48%. Sell-side analysts predict that Power Integrations will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Power Integrations Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. Power Integrations’s dividend payout ratio is currently 147.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Radu Barsan sold 10,393 shares of Power Integrations stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.08, for a total value of $686,769.44. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,295 shares in the company, valued at $2,993,093.60. This trade represents a 18.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Balu Balakrishnan sold 6,012 shares of Power Integrations stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.26, for a total transaction of $350,259.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 605,365 shares in the company, valued at $35,268,564.90. The trade was a 0.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,544 shares of company stock valued at $2,433,105. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Power Integrations

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in POWI. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Power Integrations in the 4th quarter valued at about $288,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Power Integrations by 43.9% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 629 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Power Integrations by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 654,973 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $40,412,000 after purchasing an additional 33,741 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Power Integrations by 89.6% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 57,165 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,665,000 after purchasing an additional 27,016 shares during the period. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Power Integrations in the fourth quarter valued at $227,000.

About Power Integrations

Power Integrations, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits (ICs), and other electronic components and circuitry used in high-voltage power conversion worldwide. The company provides a range of alternating current to direct current power conversion products that address power supply ranging from less than one watt of output to approximately 500 watts of output for mobile-device chargers, consumer appliances, utility meters, LCD monitors, main and standby power supplies for desktop computers and TVs, LED lighting, and various other consumer and industrial applications, as well as power conversion in high-power applications comprising industrial motors, solar and wind-power systems, electric vehicles, and high-voltage DC transmission systems.