Public Sector Pension Investment Board Purchases 62,293 Shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Key Points

• The Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in Semtech Corporation by 29.6% during the first quarter, owning 272,418 shares valued at $9.37 million.
• Several hedge funds have actively traded Semtech shares, with notable transactions including a massive 104,700% boost in NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings during the same period.
• Analysts remain optimistic with eleven buy ratings on Semtech, raising their price targets, while the company recently reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.31 per share.

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) by 29.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 272,418 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 62,293 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board owned about 0.31% of Semtech worth $9,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new position in Semtech during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted 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 valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Semtech by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 18,136 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Semtech by 16.8% during the first quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,084 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Semtech by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,226 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter.

Semtech Trading Down 1.4%

SMTC stock traded down $0.69 during trading on Friday, hitting $49.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,198,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,677,505. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -24.19 and a beta of 1.94. Semtech Corporation has a 52-week low of $24.05 and a 52-week high of $79.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.81, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $251.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.79 million. Semtech had a negative net margin of 12.52% and a positive return on equity of 19.66%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.06 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Semtech news, COO Asaf Silberstein sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.98, for a total transaction of $85,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 105,996 shares in the company, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Mark Lin sold 999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.84, for a total transaction of $43,796.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,211 shares in the company, 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. 0.48% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on SMTC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Semtech from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Semtech from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $43.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $68.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.58.

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.