Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) by 4.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 427,958 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 17,345 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.49% of Semtech worth $14,722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Semtech in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Semtech in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. NBC Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Semtech by 104,700.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,048 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Semtech during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Semtech by 58.5% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,498 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter.

Semtech Trading Up 2.7%

SMTC traded up $1.28 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.21. 1,567,009 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,161,452. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.40 and a beta of 1.92. 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 52 week low of $24.05 and a 52 week high of $79.52.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.06 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMTC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $43.00 price objective on Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Semtech from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Semtech from $35.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.58.

Insider Activity at Semtech

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

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.