Morgan Stanley Lowers Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) Price Target to $370.00

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) had its target price lowered by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $385.00 to $370.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the software maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 30.53% from the stock’s current price.

CDNS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a report on Monday, November 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $385.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Cadence Design Systems from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $335.00 to $360.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $390.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.50.

Cadence Design Systems Stock Performance

Shares of CDNS stock opened at $283.46 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $309.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $328.89. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 3.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.16 billion, a PE ratio of 73.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.01. Cadence Design Systems has a 52-week low of $221.56 and a 52-week high of $376.45.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.08. Cadence Design Systems had a return on equity of 30.13% and a net margin of 20.35%.The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Cadence Design Systems has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.890-1.950 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 8.050-8.150 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Cadence Design Systems will post 5.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Cadence Design Systems

In related news, CFO John M. Wall sold 27,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.57, for a total value of $8,857,838.85. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,286,201.49. This represents a 28.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Paul Scannell sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $339.43, for a total transaction of $1,863,470.70. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 20,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,897,557.03. This trade represents a 21.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 56,475 shares of company stock valued at $18,505,486 in the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cadence Design Systems

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Y.D. More Investments Ltd purchased a new stake in Cadence Design Systems in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Lodestone Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Cadence Design Systems News

Here are the key news stories impacting Cadence Design Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat — Cadence reported Q4 EPS of $1.99 and revenue of $1.44B, topping consensus and showing y/y revenue growth (~6.2%), which validates steady demand. Cadence Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Very strong FY26 guide — management raised FY‑2026 EPS to $8.05–8.15 (well above Street expectations) and set revenue guidance roughly $5.9–6.0B, signaling confidence in multi‑year demand drivers. Cadence Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2025 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: AI‑linked demand highlighted — management and several reports point to strong AI-related design demand as a growth driver underpinning the beat and the raised guidance. Cadence beats quarterly profit and revenue estimates on strong AI-linked demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Call transcript and details available — the earnings call provides management commentary on product demand, backlog and cadence of revenue recognition; read the transcript for execution risks and cadence on AI bookings. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views mixed but generally constructive — several buy/overweight ratings and price targets remain above current levels (median targets near $390), while a few firms remain cautious; analyst re‑ratings can amplify intraday moves. Analysts Set Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) PT at $379.59
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and institutional repositioning noted — recent reporting shows material insider sales and large institutional shifts that can create selling pressure even after a beat. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) stock rises on Q4 2025 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technicals may prompt profit‑taking — Cadence trades at a rich P/E (~73) and has recently been below its 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages, factors that can trigger rotation out of the name despite strong fundamentals.

About Cadence Design Systems

Cadence Design Systems, Inc (NASDAQ: CDNS) is a global provider of electronic design automation (EDA) software, hardware and intellectual property used to design and verify advanced semiconductor chips, systems-on-chip (SoCs), printed circuit boards (PCBs) and packaging. Headquartered in San Jose, California and founded in 1988, Cadence serves semiconductor companies, original equipment manufacturers and system designers across the globe, helping customers accelerate design cycles and manage the complexity of modern integrated systems.

The company’s offerings span software tools for digital, custom/analog and mixed-signal design, verification and signoff, as well as solutions for system-level modeling, thermal and signal integrity analysis, and PCB and package design.