Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Semtech Corporation $SMTC

Key Points

• Polar Asset Management Partners cut its Semtech stake by 69.6% in the first quarter, selling 169,576 shares and retaining 74,107 shares valued at approximately $5.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $189.07, though Northland Securities downgraded the stock to “market perform.”
• Semtech exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.51 in EPS versus the $0.45 consensus and $291.02 million in revenue, up 15.9% year over year; insiders have sold 22,234 shares worth $3.2 million over the past 90 days.

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) by 69.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,107 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 169,576 shares during the quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. owned 0.08% of Semtech worth $5,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Semtech by 144.5% in the fourth quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 107,617 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $7,930,000 after acquiring an additional 63,603 shares during the period. Argos Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Semtech during the 4th quarter worth about $640,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Semtech by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,099,033 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $154,704,000 after purchasing an additional 6,715 shares during the period. Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Semtech by 558.9% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 48,100 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,544,000 after purchasing an additional 40,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Semtech by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 155,576 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $11,709,000 after purchasing an additional 27,781 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Transactions at Semtech

In other Semtech news, COO Asaf Silberstein sold 8,500 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.80, for a total transaction of $1,086,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,862 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,378,963.60. The trade was a 8.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Mark Lin sold 970 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.41, for a total value of $145,897.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,896 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,248,707.36. This represents a 2.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 22,234 shares of company stock valued at $3,203,091 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SMTC. Northland Securities lowered shares of Semtech from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded Semtech from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Semtech from $157.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Semtech from $210.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Semtech from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $189.07.

Semtech Stock Performance

SMTC stock opened at $125.92 on Monday. Semtech Corporation has a 12 month low of $46.02 and a 12 month high of $177.35. The firm's 50-day moving average is $149.03 and its 200 day moving average is $110.78. The company has a market capitalization of $11.73 billion, a PE ratio of -322.87 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.62.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 26th. The semiconductor company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $291.02 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $283.53 million. Semtech had a negative net margin of 3.05% and a positive return on equity of 18.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.38 EPS. Semtech has set its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.590-0.630 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Semtech Corporation will post 1.81 EPS for the current year.

Semtech Profile

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms. The company's products address a broad range of applications in the Internet of Things (IoT), data center and telecom, industrial, home automation, automotive, and aerospace markets. Semtech's portfolio includes power management, signal integrity, protection devices, wireless and sensing technologies that enable smarter, more connected systems worldwide.

A core offering from Semtech is its LoRa® technology, a low-power, long-range wireless communication platform that has become a de facto standard for global IoT deployments.

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