Insider Selling: Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) CEO Sells $19,676,686.68 in Stock

Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ:TSEM) CEO Russell Craig Ellwanger sold 77,309 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.52, for a total value of $19,676,686.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 631,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $160,605,683.28. This trade represents a 10.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Russell Craig Ellwanger also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 11th, Russell Craig Ellwanger sold 104,226 shares of Tower Semiconductor stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.34, for a total value of $25,883,484.84.

Tower Semiconductor Trading Up 5.0%

Shares of TSEM opened at $265.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.31, a current ratio of 4.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Tower Semiconductor Ltd. has a 12-month low of $46.25 and a 12-month high of $319.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.85 billion, a PE ratio of 104.93 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $244.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $205.25.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ:TSEM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $460.08 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $454.68 million. Tower Semiconductor had a return on equity of 9.83% and a net margin of 16.94%.The company’s revenue was up 23.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Tower Semiconductor Ltd. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on TSEM shares. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research report on Friday, August 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $367.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $180.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Tower Semiconductor from $140.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Tower Semiconductor in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.80.

Institutional Trading of Tower Semiconductor

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Tower Semiconductor by 3,222.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,682,152 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $549,779,000 after acquiring an additional 4,541,235 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors bought a new stake in Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $222,530,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Tower Semiconductor by 214.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,206,467 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $259,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,505,421 shares in the last quarter. Turiya Advisors Asia Ltd acquired a new stake in Tower Semiconductor in the fourth quarter worth $172,848,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Tower Semiconductor by 293.8% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,074,717 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $126,193,000 after purchasing an additional 801,820 shares during the period. 70.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Tower Semiconductor

Tower Semiconductor, traded on NASDAQ under the symbol TSEM, is a specialty foundry company that provides analog and mixed-signal semiconductor manufacturing services to a broad array of customers worldwide. The company focuses on delivering tailored process technologies for high-growth markets, including radio frequency (RF), power management, imaging, automotive electronics, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. By combining deep process know-how with flexible manufacturing capabilities, Tower Semiconductor supports the development and volume production of advanced semiconductor devices for fabless and integrated device manufacturer customers.

The company’s technology portfolio spans standard and specialty processes such as CMOS, BiCMOS, high-voltage, radio frequency, silicon photonics, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and image sensor production.