Freedom Capital Upgrades FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM) to Strong-Buy

FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM) was upgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Capital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

FORM has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen increased their target price on FormFactor from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of FormFactor in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Evercore set a $150.00 price target on shares of FormFactor in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of FormFactor from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, B. Riley Financial reissued a “buy” rating on shares of FormFactor in a report on Monday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.73.

FormFactor Stock Up 10.9%

Shares of FormFactor stock opened at $96.79 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.48 and a 200-day moving average of $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01, a current ratio of 3.68 and a quick ratio of 3.02. The company has a market capitalization of $7.55 billion, a PE ratio of 44.20 and a beta of 1.27. FormFactor has a 1-year low of $47.33 and a 1-year high of $160.27.

FormFactor (NASDAQ:FORM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The semiconductor company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.18. FormFactor had a return on equity of 18.40% and a net margin of 17.72%. The business had revenue of $280.55 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 38.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FormFactor will post 2.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mike Slessor sold 17,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.73, for a total value of $1,833,822.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 466,694 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,876,862.62. The trade was a 3.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Kelley Steven-Waiss sold 2,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.10, for a total value of $201,810.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 24,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,347,338.60. This represents a 7.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 46,710 shares of company stock worth $5,520,564. 0.79% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FormFactor

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC increased its stake in FormFactor by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 18,442 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FormFactor by 96.1% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 253 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of FormFactor by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 18,089 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,701,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Keating Financial Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FormFactor in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FormFactor by 12.5% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,439 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.76% of the company’s stock.

About FormFactor

FormFactor, Inc is a semiconductor test and measurement company that designs and manufactures equipment and components used to evaluate integrated circuits during the wafer fabrication and production process. Its products help semiconductor manufacturers and suppliers measure electrical performance, identify defects and improve the development and manufacturing of advanced chips.

The company’s portfolio includes probe cards used for wafer-level testing, as well as probe stations, analytical systems and related accessories for semiconductor engineering and production applications.