Empowered Funds LLC Buys New Stake in PDF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDFS)

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in PDF Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PDFS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,089 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $165,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PDFS. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in PDF Solutions in the third quarter valued at $37,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 956 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of PDF Solutions by 34.7% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,042 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Olympiad Research LP purchased a new position in shares of PDF Solutions during the third quarter worth about $253,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of PDF Solutions during the third quarter worth about $331,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.51% of the company’s stock.

PDF Solutions Stock Down 6.3 %

NASDAQ PDFS opened at $23.01 on Friday. PDF Solutions, Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.69 and a 52-week high of $39.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.37. The firm has a market cap of $892.17 million, a P/E ratio of 230.10 and a beta of 1.52.

PDF Solutions (NASDAQ:PDFS) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 3.94% and a net margin of 2.26%. The company had revenue of $50.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.40 million. As a group, analysts anticipate that PDF Solutions, Inc. will post 0.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PDFS has been the topic of several research reports. Northland Securities reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of PDF Solutions in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on PDF Solutions from $40.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised PDF Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Andrzej Strojwas sold 5,030 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.85, for a total transaction of $155,175.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 94,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,922,019.45. This trade represents a 5.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Nancy Erba sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.81, for a total transaction of $61,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 13,739 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $423,298.59. The trade was a 12.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.13% of the company’s stock.

PDF Solutions Profile

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.