MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL) Hits New 52-Week High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• 52-week high: MaxLinear shares reached a new 52-week high (intraday $37.37) and last traded around $33.70, giving the company a market cap of about $2.91 billion.
• Analyst caution: Despite the rally, the consensus rating is a Hold with a consensus price target of $23.29 (2 Buys, 5 Holds, 1 Sell), indicating analysts' targets sit well below current trading levels.
• Mixed fundamentals: The company beat the latest quarter's EPS ($0.19) and revenue (+48% YoY), but still reports a negative net margin (-29.23%) and negative ROE, analysts forecast -$0.17 EPS for the year, and insiders have been net sellers in recent months.

Shares of MaxLinear, Inc (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $37.37 and last traded at $33.70, with a volume of 9079395 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of MaxLinear from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $34.00 target price on shares of MaxLinear in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of MaxLinear in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Susquehanna restated a "neutral" rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of MaxLinear in a research report on Monday. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of MaxLinear from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $23.29.

MaxLinear Stock Up 6.2%

The firm's 50-day moving average price is $18.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.67. The firm has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.33 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

MaxLinear (NASDAQ:MXL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The semiconductor company reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $136.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $134.82 million. MaxLinear had a negative net margin of 29.23% and a negative return on equity of 6.95%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 48.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.09) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that MaxLinear, Inc will post -0.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at MaxLinear

In other news, insider Steven G. Litchfield sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.50, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 368,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,446,370. This represents a 5.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 44,929 shares of company stock worth $746,456 in the last three months. 7.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MaxLinear

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its position in MaxLinear by 161.7% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,416 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in MaxLinear by 103.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,431 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in MaxLinear in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in MaxLinear in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in MaxLinear by 97.0% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 90.79% of the company's stock.

MaxLinear Company Profile

MaxLinear, Inc is a provider of radio-frequency (RF), analog, and mixed-signal integrated circuits for broadband communications, data center connectivity, and video infrastructure applications. The company's product portfolio includes high-performance RF front-end modules, broadband power amplifiers, optical and Ethernet transceivers, and network processors designed to support demanding signal processing requirements.

MaxLinear's semiconductor solutions are used by cable and satellite television operators, fiber-to-the-home service providers, network equipment manufacturers, and data center operators.

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