Short Interest in NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) Drops By 16.5%

NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,570,000 shares, a decrease of 16.5% from the February 28th total of 10,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

NXP Semiconductors Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:NXPI traded down $0.06 on Tuesday, reaching $190.00. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,269,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,430,545. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $221.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.36. NXP Semiconductors has a 52-week low of $183.56 and a 52-week high of $296.08. The company has a market cap of $48.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.47.

NXP Semiconductors Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $1.014 per share. This represents a $4.06 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 19th. NXP Semiconductors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on NXPI shares. Barclays cut their target price on NXP Semiconductors from $280.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of NXP Semiconductors from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $231.00 to $257.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Arete Research raised NXP Semiconductors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on NXP Semiconductors from $231.00 to $210.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, NXP Semiconductors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Andrew Micallef sold 1,000 shares of NXP Semiconductors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.86, for a total transaction of $204,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,808,504.08. This trade represents a 10.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of NXP Semiconductors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 0.4% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 12,498 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $3,000,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in NXP Semiconductors by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,412 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in NXP Semiconductors by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 573 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 968 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 2,972 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $618,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 90.54% of the company’s stock.

About NXP Semiconductors

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.