Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) Stock Falls 9.7% – Should You Sell?

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM)’s stock price traded down 9.7% on Friday. The stock traded as low as $169.22 and last traded at $169.7110. 490,285 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 2,257,967 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSEM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $270.00 target price for the company. Bank of America began coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Friday, August 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $367.00 price target on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Tower Semiconductor to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Friday, September 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Friday, September 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $310.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.00.

Tower Semiconductor Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $18.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.31 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 4.91, a quick ratio of 4.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $213.80 and its 200 day moving average is $204.00.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. Tower Semiconductor had a net margin of 16.94% and a return on equity of 9.83%. The business had revenue of $460.08 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $454.68 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Tower Semiconductor’s quarterly revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tower Semiconductor

In related news, Director Yoav Chelouche sold 232 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.06, for a total transaction of $49,893.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 33,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,254,834.04. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Russell Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total transaction of $25,883,484.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 526,788 shares in the company, valued at $130,822,531.92. The trade was a 16.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 181,767 shares of company stock worth $45,610,065 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tower Semiconductor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 319 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Tower Semiconductor during the third quarter worth about $75,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. raised its position in Tower Semiconductor by 83.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 339 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tower Semiconductor by 230.7% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 334 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Tower Semiconductor in the first quarter valued at $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.51% of the company’s stock.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is an Israeli specialty semiconductor foundry that manufactures integrated circuits for fabless semiconductor companies, integrated device manufacturers and system companies. The company provides process technologies and production services rather than selling branded end-user electronics.

Its offerings include analog and mixed-signal technologies, radio-frequency and high-voltage circuits, power management solutions, image sensors, and specialty memory products.