Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 399,875 Shares of Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. cut its stake in Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,568,219 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 399,875 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 7.36% of Semtech worth $344,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new position in Semtech during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,315,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Semtech during the 4th quarter worth $14,660,000. Soros Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Semtech during the 4th quarter worth $6,185,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Semtech by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 865,472 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $53,529,000 after acquiring an additional 180,098 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oxford Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in Semtech during the fourth quarter worth about $345,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMTC has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Friday, March 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Semtech from $54.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Craig Hallum cut their price objective on Semtech from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Semtech in a report on Monday, April 7th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Semtech from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Semtech has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.92.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Mark Lin sold 2,907 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.71, for a total value of $109,622.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,481 shares in the company, valued at $508,368.51. This trade represents a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.60% of the company's stock.

Semtech Stock Up 1.6 %

SMTC stock opened at $34.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.66, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.88. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $32.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.20. Semtech Co. has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $79.52.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $251.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.40 million. The firm's revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Semtech Co. will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Semtech Profile

Semtech Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal semiconductor and advanced algorithms. It provides signal integrity products, including a portfolio of optical data communications and video transport products used in various infrastructure, and industrial applications; a portfolio of integrated circuits for data centers, enterprise networks, passive optical networks, wireless base station optical transceivers, and high-speed interface applications; and video products for broadcast applications, as well as video-over-IP technology for professional audio video applications.

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