Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) Sets New 52-Week High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Semtech hit a new 52-week high in mid-day trading, reaching $96.68 and last trading at $97.12 on volume of 320,192 shares versus a prior close of $93.27.
• Analysts have been raising targets—Oppenheimer to $110 and Needham to $105—with the firmwide consensus at a $93.50 and a breakdown of 14 Buys, 1 Hold and 1 Sell (average rating: Moderate Buy).
• The company posted a slight earnings beat (Q EPS $0.44 vs. $0.43; revenue $274.4M, +9.3% YoY) but still shows a negative net margin and a negative PE, while insiders have reduced holdings (CEO sold shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan and insiders sold ~51,384 shares in the past 90 days).

Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $96.68 and last traded at $97.12, with a volume of 320192 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $93.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Semtech from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Semtech in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Semtech from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Semtech from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Semtech from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Semtech has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.50.

Semtech Stock Up 6.3%

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $84.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 2.37 and a quick ratio of 1.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.21 billion, a PE ratio of -225.43 and a beta of 2.06.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 16th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.01. Semtech had a negative net margin of 3.86% and a positive return on equity of 18.09%. The business had revenue of $274.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $273.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Semtech

In other news, CEO Hong Q. Hou sold 2,000 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total transaction of $180,220.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 73,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,598,575.08. The trade was a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Paul V. Walsh, Jr. sold 500 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.87, for a total transaction of $40,435.00. Following the sale, the director owned 24,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,963,442.73. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 51,384 shares of company stock valued at $4,321,300. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SMTC. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its position in shares of Semtech by 55.7% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 277,661 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $19,839,000 after acquiring an additional 99,335 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Semtech by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 117,669 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $7,992,000 after purchasing an additional 23,086 shares during the last quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Semtech during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,318,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Semtech during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,160,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Semtech during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,624,000.

About Semtech

Semtech Corporation is a leading supplier of high-performance analog and mixed-signal semiconductors and advanced algorithms. The company's products address a broad range of applications in the Internet of Things (IoT), data center and telecom, industrial, home automation, automotive, and aerospace markets. Semtech's portfolio includes power management, signal integrity, protection devices, wireless and sensing technologies that enable smarter, more connected systems worldwide.

A core offering from Semtech is its LoRa® technology, a low-power, long-range wireless communication platform that has become a de facto standard for global IoT deployments.

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