Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS)

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDNS) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 17,933 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 471% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,143 put options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CDNS shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Cadence Design Systems from $355.00 to $319.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $360.00 price target on shares of Cadence Design Systems in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $395.00 price target on Cadence Design Systems in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Cadence Design Systems from $385.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Cadence Design Systems from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $275.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cadence Design Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $376.50.

Cadence Design Systems Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of Cadence Design Systems stock opened at $284.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $77.52 billion, a PE ratio of 70.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $297.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.98. Cadence Design Systems has a 1 year low of $221.56 and a 1 year high of $376.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The software maker reported $1.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.42 billion. Cadence Design Systems had a net margin of 20.93% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. 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 research analysts predict that Cadence Design Systems will post 5.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Cadence Design Systems News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Product/partnership boost — Cadence deepened photonic and AI design integration with a PhotonForge connector for Virtuoso Studio, which could expand Cadence’s addressable market in AI datacenter and photonic chip design. Cadence Deepens AI Photonic Design Ties With New PhotonForge Connector
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamentals/backlog cited by analysts — Recent company commentary and quarters (noted in market writeups) point to strong cash flow and a record backlog entering 2026, supporting longer‑term demand for Cadence tools. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) slides 3.3% as investors digest recent shelf filing and valuation sensitivity
• Neutral Sentiment: Market moves — Some intraday strength in tech names was tied to macro headlines (broad market rally after political comments), which temporarily lifted related stocks but did not reverse the underlying sentiment pressure on Cadence. Cadence Design Systems, Twilio, nCino, Bandwidth, and C3.ai Stocks Trade Up, What You Need To Know
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest reporting appears unreliable — Multiple data entries show zero shares / NaN changes for March short interest (likely a reporting/data anomaly), so don’t read meaningful bearish pressure from those figures today.
• Negative Sentiment: Put buying and options flow — Unusually large put activity was reported (big increase in put volume), indicating hedging or directional bearish bets that can amplify downward pressure on the share price intraday.
• Negative Sentiment: Shelf registration and financing flexibility — Coverage notes Cadence filed an automatic shelf registration (Form S‑3), which can create concern about potential future share or security issuance and increases investor sensitivity to dilution risk. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) slides 3.3% as investors digest recent shelf filing and valuation sensitivity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling highlighted — Reports of substantial insider sales over recent months (documented in coverage) raise caution among some investors about near‑term sentiment even if sales have explanations unrelated to company fundamentals. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) slides 3.3% as investors digest recent shelf filing and valuation sensitivity
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and recent pullback — Commentary and analyst notes emphasize valuation sensitivity after a strong multi‑quarter run; some coverage frames Cadence as down significantly over the past six months, creating debate over near‑term upside vs. longer‑term secular AI/EDA tailwinds. Cadence Design Systems (CDNS) Registers a Bigger Fall Than the Market: Important Facts to Note Cadence Down 16% in the Past 6 Months: How to Play the Stock?

Insider Activity

In other Cadence Design Systems news, Director Ita M. Brennan sold 180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.03, for a total transaction of $53,105.40. Following the sale, the director owned 7,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,203,874.10. The trade was a 2.35% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Paul Cunningham sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $297.78, for a total transaction of $297,780.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 94,137 shares in the company, valued at $28,032,115.86. The trade was a 1.05% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,185 shares of company stock worth $963,238. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stance Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 4,166 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Cadence Design Systems by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 319,696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $99,931,000 after purchasing an additional 112,923 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Cadence Design Systems by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 9,705 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 642 shares in the last quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Cadence Design Systems during the fourth quarter worth $469,000. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Cadence Design Systems by 24.9% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 299,886 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $93,882,000 after buying an additional 59,811 shares during the period. 84.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.