HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Position in Cadence Design Systems, Inc. $CDNS

HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) by 18.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,088 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,479 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cadence Design Systems were worth $18,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cadence Design Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. DDD Partners LLC purchased a new position in Cadence Design Systems in the third quarter valued at about $11,572,000. Lyell Wealth Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 0.9% during the third quarter. Lyell Wealth Management LP now owns 50,784 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $17,838,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems in the third quarter worth about $372,000. Finally, Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. grew its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 492.9% in the third quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 9,623 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CDNS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $385.00 price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Cadence Design Systems from $410.00 to $375.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $405.00 target price on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Cadence Design Systems from $390.00 to $418.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $376.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cadence Design Systems

In related news, CFO John M. Wall sold 27,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.57, for a total transaction of $8,857,838.85. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 69,957 shares in the company, valued at $22,286,201.49. This trade represents a 28.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Anirudh Devgan sold 20,000 shares of Cadence Design Systems stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $340.00, for a total transaction of $6,800,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 195,844 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,586,960. This represents a 9.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,475 shares of company stock worth $18,505,486. 1.99% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Cadence Design Systems

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and 2026 guidance: Cadence reported Q4 revenue and EPS above estimates and issued FY‑2026 guidance that implies healthy growth and margin expansion; the print and outlook are the primary bullish catalyst behind the initial rally after earnings. CNBC: Cadence shares pop on earnings beat, custom chip optimism
• Positive Sentiment: AI product traction: Cadence highlighted its ChipStack AI Super Agent and AI-driven tools (Cerebrus) that management says can materially speed chip design and improve power/performance/area — strengthening Cadence’s growth narrative and valuation premium. Yahoo Finance: Cadence ChipStack AI Super Agent Launch
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst bullishness and price-target support: Several firms (Bank of America, Needham, others) reaffirmed buy ratings or raised targets after the print, supporting upside narratives for investors focused on AI and semiconductor design exposure. InsiderMonkey: Bank of America remains bullish
• Neutral Sentiment: Backlog and visibility: Management flagged a record backlog (~$7.8B) and that a large portion of 2026 revenue is already visible — positive for revenue certainty but implies some growth is already priced in. MarketBeat: CDNS post-earnings note
• Negative Sentiment: Heavy put and unusual options activity: Reported spikes in put buying and large volumes of put options suggest some traders are betting on a pullback or hedging exposure, which can amplify intraday selling pressure. American Banking News: Traders buy put options
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst moves and target trims: A few firms trimmed price targets or maintained neutral ratings (Piper Sandler cut its target; Rosenblatt and others showed mixed messages), adding uncertainty about near-term upside and prompting profit-taking. Benzinga: Analyst revisions after Q4
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data reported is unreliable/zero in recent feed (likely a data issue) and should not be relied on for trading signals. (No meaningful linked source.)

Cadence Design Systems Stock Performance

Shares of Cadence Design Systems stock opened at $296.59 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 2.84 and a current ratio of 2.86. Cadence Design Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.56 and a 1 year high of $376.45. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $308.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $328.50. The firm has a market cap of $80.73 billion, a PE ratio of 73.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.01.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 29.34% and a net margin of 20.93%.The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Cadence Design Systems’s quarterly 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. Equities analysts forecast that Cadence Design Systems, Inc. will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.