Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) Stock Price

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley has lowered its price target for Silicon Laboratories (SLAB) from $157 to $144, maintaining an "equal weight" rating on the stock, which indicates a potential upside of 17.49% from the previous close.
• Other analysts have differing views, with Stifel Nicolaus increasing their target to $160.00 and maintaining a "buy" rating, while Needham & Company has a price objective of $150.00.
• Silicon Laboratories has shown strong revenue growth of 32.6% year-over-year, reporting $192.85 million in revenue for the last quarter, and exceeding expectations slightly.

Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $157.00 to $144.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the semiconductor company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.81% from the company's previous close.

SLAB has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Silicon Laboratories from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Silicon Laboratories from $100.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Silicon Laboratories from $110.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Silicon Laboratories from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $151.13.

Silicon Laboratories Trading Up 0.9%

NASDAQ:SLAB traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $125.42. The stock had a trading volume of 306,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 436,627. The company has a market cap of $4.12 billion, a PE ratio of -38.95 and a beta of 1.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.93. Silicon Laboratories has a 1-year low of $82.82 and a 1-year high of $160.00.

Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $192.85 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $192.57 million. Silicon Laboratories had a negative net margin of 14.88% and a negative return on equity of 7.21%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 32.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.56) EPS. Research analysts expect that Silicon Laboratories will post -0.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Silicon Laboratories news, CEO Robert Matthew Johnson sold 5,879 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.20, for a total value of $771,324.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 73,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,667,865.60. This trade represents a 7.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert J. Conrad sold 4,029 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.20, for a total value of $528,604.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,329,856. This trade represents a 13.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,080 shares of company stock worth $1,452,290 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,867,203 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $604,604,000 after acquiring an additional 23,833 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Silicon Laboratories by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 2,131,920 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $264,827,000 after purchasing an additional 403,010 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Silicon Laboratories by 42.7% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 849,730 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $95,654,000 after purchasing an additional 254,348 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 810,736 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $119,484,000 after purchasing an additional 7,519 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 604,168 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $75,053,000 after buying an additional 5,781 shares in the last quarter.

About Silicon Laboratories

Silicon Laboratories Inc, a fabless semiconductor company, provides various analog-intensive mixed-signal solutions in the United States, China, Taiwan, and internationally. The company's products include wireless microcontrollers and sensor products. Its products are used in various electronic products in a range of applications for the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), including industrial automation and control, smart buildings, access control, HVAC control, and industrial wearables and power tools; smart cities applications, such as smart metering, smart street lighting, renewable energy, electric vehicle supply equipment, and smart agriculture; commercial IoT applications, including smart lighting, asset tracking, electronic shelf labels, theft protection, and enterprise access points; smart home applications, comprising home automation/security systems, smart speakers, smart lighting, HVAC control, smart cameras, smart appliances, smart home sensing, smart locks, and window/blind controls; and connected health applications, including diabetes management, consumer health and fitness, elderly care, patient monitoring, and activity tracking; as well as in commercial building automation, consumer electronics, and medical instrumentation.