Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,729,345 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock after buying an additional 269,656 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.86% of NXP Semiconductors worth $982,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Cannell & Spears LLC raised its position in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC now owns 4,150 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,980 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $413,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of NXP Semiconductors by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,595 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock worth $2,012,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in NXP Semiconductors by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 699 shares of the semiconductor provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new stake in NXP Semiconductors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,832,000. 90.54% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Andrew Micallef sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 8,828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,808,504.08. This trade represents a 10.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on NXPI shares. Barclays dropped their price target on NXP Semiconductors from $280.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of NXP Semiconductors from $260.00 to $240.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of NXP Semiconductors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup raised NXP Semiconductors from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $210.00 to $290.00 in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded NXP Semiconductors to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.00.

NXP Semiconductors Trading Down 5.0 %

NASDAQ NXPI opened at $189.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. NXP Semiconductors has a 1-year low of $187.75 and a 1-year high of $296.08. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $214.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.93. The company has a market capitalization of $48.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.47.

NXP Semiconductors Dividend Announcement

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

NXP Semiconductors 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.