Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd Lowers Position in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd lowered its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Free Report) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 215,039 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after selling 7,258 shares during the period. Silicon Motion Technology makes up 1.4% of Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Melqart Asset Management UK Ltd owned approximately 0.64% of Silicon Motion Technology worth $11,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SIMO. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 64.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $208,000. Choreo LLC acquired a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $209,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 3,959 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 267 shares during the period. 78.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Up 5.6 %

SIMO traded up $2.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $53.17. 316,764 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 372,966. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a 1-year low of $37.21 and a 1-year high of $85.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.76, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.81.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.16. The firm 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%. Silicon Motion Technology's revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Analysts predict that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding 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 generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America upgraded Silicon Motion Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $47.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Silicon Motion Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.88.

About Silicon Motion Technology

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.