Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Free Report) by 51.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,493 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after buying an additional 12,089 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Silicon Motion Technology worth $1,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,324,930 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $71,612,000 after buying an additional 221,017 shares in the last quarter. Pertento Partners LLP lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. Pertento Partners LLP now owns 1,166,914 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $63,072,000 after purchasing an additional 277,462 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 22.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,038,779 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $56,146,000 after purchasing an additional 192,646 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 797,192 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $43,088,000 after purchasing an additional 228,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 33.7% in 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 in the last quarter. 78.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SIMO traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $63.70. 470,664 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 384,455. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.72. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a twelve month low of $37.21 and a twelve month high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $166.49 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $162.69 million. Silicon Motion Technology had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 11.63%. The business's revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor producer to buy up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SIMO has been the topic of a number of research reports. B. Riley raised their target price 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. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $90.00 target price 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company 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.