Penguin Solutions (NASDAQ:PENG) Shares Up 9% on Analyst Upgrade

Penguin Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:PENG) shot up 9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Zacks Research upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $73.87 and last traded at $74.0530. Approximately 1,806,582 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 2,080,466 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.94.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PENG. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Penguin Solutions from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Penguin Solutions from $24.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Penguin Solutions from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Barclays downgraded Penguin Solutions from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Penguin Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Penguin Solutions presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.88.

Insider Activity at Penguin Solutions

In related news, Director Maximiliane C. Straub sold 3,000 shares of Penguin Solutions stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.00, for a total transaction of $147,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 51,975 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,546,775. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Joseph Gates Clark sold 10,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.87, for a total transaction of $609,363.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 66,425 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,910,439.75. This trade represents a 13.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 83,120 shares of company stock worth $3,486,734. 2.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Penguin Solutions

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PENG. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Penguin Solutions in the fourth quarter worth about $18,290,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Penguin Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $716,000. State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its stake in shares of Penguin Solutions by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 47,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $930,000 after buying an additional 23,582 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Penguin Solutions by 31.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 992,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,074,000 after purchasing an additional 240,159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Penguin Solutions by 980.0% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 109,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,143,000 after buying an additional 99,422 shares during the last quarter.

Penguin Solutions Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $52.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 83.24 and a beta of 2.82.

Penguin Solutions (NASDAQ:PENG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 1st. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $343.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $339.00 million. Penguin Solutions had a net margin of 4.07% and a return on equity of 19.94%. Research analysts predict that Penguin Solutions, Inc. will post 1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Penguin Solutions

Penguin Solutions, Inc engages in the designing and development of enterprise solutions worldwide. It operates through three segments: Advanced Computing, Integrated Memory, and Optimized LED. It offers dynamic random access memory modules, solid-state and flash storage, and other advanced integrated memory solutions for networking and telecom, data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications; and supply chain services, including procurement, logistics, inventory management, temporary warehousing, programming, kitting, and packaging services.