Qtron Investments LLC Lowers Stock Position in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG)

Qtron Investments LLC cut its stake in shares of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG) by 14.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,751 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 647 shares during the period. Qtron Investments LLC’s holdings in Entegris were worth $372,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Entegris by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,202,146 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,505,925,000 after acquiring an additional 169,180 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Entegris in the 4th quarter worth approximately $445,988,000. Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Entegris by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 2,616,354 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,176,000 after purchasing an additional 291,893 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Entegris by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,560,896 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $253,225,000 after buying an additional 22,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Entegris by 47.7% during the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,550,942 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $153,636,000 after buying an additional 500,581 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Entegris from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their price objective on Entegris from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Entegris in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price target on Entegris from $150.00 to $141.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Entegris presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.88.

Insider Activity at Entegris

In related news, SVP Olivier Blachier sold 984 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.00, for a total transaction of $106,272.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 10,903 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,524. The trade was a 8.28 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Clinton M. Haris sold 12,652 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.92, for a total value of $1,352,751.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 34,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,722,954.40. The trade was a 26.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Entegris Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ENTG stock opened at $69.72 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $10.55 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.36. Entegris, Inc. has a 1 year low of $60.75 and a 1 year high of $147.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 3.08 and a quick ratio of 1.86.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.07. Entegris had a return on equity of 12.83% and a net margin of 9.03%. Research analysts predict that Entegris, Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Entegris Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, February 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 29th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 29th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Entegris’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.73%.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions in North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It operates in three segments: Materials Solutions (MS); Microcontamination Control (MC); and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH).