Raymond James Financial Inc. Takes $2.48 Million Position in PDF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDFS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in PDF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDFS) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 91,661 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,482,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PDFS. KBC Group NV raised its position in PDF Solutions by 91.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 956 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PDF Solutions during the fourth quarter worth about $165,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of PDF Solutions by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 12,574 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in PDF Solutions by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 14,848 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in PDF Solutions by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 28,500 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $772,000 after buying an additional 1,999 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.51% of the company’s stock.

PDF Solutions Stock Down 3.8 %

NASDAQ:PDFS opened at $19.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $754.12 million, a P/E ratio of 192.80 and a beta of 1.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $23.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.75. PDF Solutions, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.17 and a 52 week high of $39.70.

PDF Solutions (NASDAQ:PDFS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.15). PDF Solutions had a net margin of 2.26% and a return on equity of 3.94%. The firm had revenue of $50.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.40 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that PDF Solutions, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at PDF Solutions

In other news, CEO John Kachig Kibarian purchased 34,356 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $22.80 per share, for a total transaction of $783,316.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,507,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $57,162,153.60. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael B. Gustafson purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $23.06 per share, with a total value of $92,240.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 22,574 shares in the company, valued at $520,556.44. This represents a 21.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on PDFS shares. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on PDF Solutions from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Northland Securities restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of PDF Solutions in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th.

About PDF Solutions

PDF Solutions, Inc provides proprietary software and physical intellectual property products for integrated circuit designs, electrical measurement hardware tools, proven methodologies, and professional services in the United States, China, Japan, and internationally. The company offers Exensio software products, such as Manufacturing Analytics that store collected data in a common environment with a consistent view for enabling product engineers to identify and analyze production yield, performance, reliability, and other issues; Process Control that provides failure detection and classification capabilities for monitoring, alarming, and controlling manufacturing tool sets; Test Operations that offer data collection and analysis capabilities; and Assembly Operations that provide device manufacturers with the capability to link assembly and packaging data, including fabrication and characterization data over the product life cycle.