Essex Investment Management Co. LLC Invests $1.70 Million in Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Essex Investment Management Co. LLC bought a new position in shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 49,497 shares of the semiconductor company's stock, valued at approximately $1,703,000. Essex Investment Management Co. LLC owned 0.06% of Semtech at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Semtech during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $360,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Semtech by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,468 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Semtech by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,154 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Semtech by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 39,097 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Semtech during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $386,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SMTC. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Semtech from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $43.00 price target on Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Semtech from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Asaf Silberstein sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.98, for a total transaction of $85,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 105,996 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,555,708.08. This represents a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark Lin sold 999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.84, for a total value of $43,796.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $754,530.24. The trade was a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Semtech Stock Performance

Shares of SMTC traded down $0.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.14. The stock had a trading volume of 1,713,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,476,895. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.81. Semtech Corporation has a 12 month low of $24.05 and a 12 month high of $79.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a PE ratio of -24.34 and a beta of 1.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.15.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $251.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.79 million. Semtech had a positive return on equity of 19.66% and a negative net margin of 12.52%. Semtech's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.06 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

About Semtech

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.