Northern Trust Corp Boosts Position in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Free Report) by 3,234.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 136,636 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after purchasing an additional 132,538 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.41% of Silicon Motion Technology worth $7,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIMO. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 763,419 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $41,263,000 after purchasing an additional 192,603 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,324,930 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $71,612,000 after buying an additional 221,017 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 62.6% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 62,117 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $3,357,000 after buying an additional 23,921 shares during the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Silicon Motion Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,655,000. Finally, GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. increased its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 32,309 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $1,746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.02% of the company's stock.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ SIMO traded down $1.37 on Friday, hitting $63.70. 470,664 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 385,036. The company has a market cap of $2.16 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.88. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a fifty-two week low of $37.21 and a fifty-two week high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $166.49 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $162.69 million. Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.63% and a net margin of 11.29%. Silicon Motion Technology's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor producer to repurchase up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SIMO. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America raised shares of Silicon Motion Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.88.

Silicon Motion Technology Company Profile

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.