NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) Cut to “Market Perform” at William Blair

William Blair lowered shares of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on NVDA. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on shares of NVIDIA from $300.00 to $325.00 in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of NVIDIA from $315.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of NVIDIA in a research report on Monday, November 9th. HSBC raised their price target on shares of NVIDIA from $360.00 to $365.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of NVIDIA in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.89.

NVIDIA Stock Down 2.0%

NASDAQ NVDA traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $162.85. 363,372,273 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 196,617,360. NVIDIA has a 1-year low of $148.80 and a 1-year high of $243.37. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $214.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.12. The company has a current ratio of 4.59, a quick ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.21.

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The computer hardware maker reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $96.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.27 billion. NVIDIA had a net margin of 63.66% and a return on equity of 96.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 105.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that NVIDIA will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

NVIDIA declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 28th that permits the company to buy back $150 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the computer hardware maker to reacquire up to 2.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Share repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

NVIDIA Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 10th. NVIDIA’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mark A. Stevens sold 622,239 shares of NVIDIA stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $231.62, for a total transaction of $144,122,997.18. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,336,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,187,310.22. The trade was a 21.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy S. Teter sold 30,460 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.80, for a total value of $6,786,488.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,687,660 shares in the company, valued at $598,810,648. The trade was a 1.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,766,118 shares of company stock worth $399,450,353 over the last 90 days. 3.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On NVIDIA

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NVDA. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of NVIDIA by 0.9% in the third quarter. White Lighthouse Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,304 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in NVIDIA by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 4,121 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $825,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. LightSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in NVIDIA by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. LightSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,695 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $3,741,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in NVIDIA by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,653 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Defender Capital LLC. boosted its position in NVIDIA by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Defender Capital LLC. now owns 7,534 shares of the computer hardware maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.27% of the company’s stock.

Latest NVIDIA News

These are some of the NVDA news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Despite cutting its price target to $300, Rosenblatt Securities maintained a Buy rating; other coverage also points to continued investor optimism about NVIDIA’s long-term growth potential. Rosenblatt Securities rating
• Negative Sentiment: Reports connecting the leadership scandal to scrutiny of possible chip diversions to China have raised risks of regulatory action and reputational damage. The allegations remain under investigation, while U.S. lawmakers are seeking testimony. Congressional scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: HSBC downgraded NVIDIA to Hold with a $170 target, and several firms have reduced price targets. Analysts also warn that leadership uncertainty could give chip rivals more opportunity to win business. HSBC downgrade coverage

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA Corporation develops graphics processing units (GPUs), accelerated computing platforms and related software. Founded in 1993, the company first became widely known for GPUs used in PC gaming and professional graphics. Its technology now also supports artificial intelligence, scientific computing and other data-intensive applications. NVIDIA’s offerings include GeForce products for gaming, data-center GPUs and systems for AI workloads, and networking products that connect computing infrastructure.