SiTime (NASDAQ:SITM) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• SiTime shares jumped sharply, opening well above the prior close and trading up about 9% intraday. The move came as the stock pushed toward recent highs.
• Analysts turned increasingly bullish after recent report updates, with several firms raising price targets and maintaining buy ratings. The consensus rating is now “Moderate Buy,” with an average target price of $661.88.
• Recent earnings were strong, with SiTime beating expectations on both EPS and revenue and posting 88.3% year-over-year revenue growth. However, insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

SiTime Corporation (NASDAQ:SITM - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $612.13, but opened at $655.51. SiTime shares last traded at $668.4860, with a volume of 58,864 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SITM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of SiTime from $450.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on SiTime from $675.00 to $775.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on SiTime from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays raised SiTime from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $400.00 to $850.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of SiTime in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, SiTime currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $661.88.

SiTime Stock Up 9.0%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $698.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.02. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -657.59 and a beta of 2.91.

SiTime (NASDAQ:SITM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.30. SiTime had a positive return on equity of 0.53% and a negative net margin of 6.38%.The company had revenue of $113.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. SiTime's revenue for the quarter was up 88.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that SiTime Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Fariborz Assaderaghi sold 1,709 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $731.49, for a total transaction of $1,250,116.41. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 81,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $59,569,619.64. This represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Raman Chitkara sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $727.38, for a total transaction of $1,454,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,898 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,473,407.24. The trade was a 9.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 73,375 shares of company stock valued at $51,931,438. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SiTime

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SITM. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SiTime by 188.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 75 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of SiTime by 26.2% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 77 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of SiTime by 3,200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 99 shares of the company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in SiTime in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in SiTime during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.31% of the company's stock.

SiTime Company Profile

SiTime Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in silicon timing solutions that leverage micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) technology as an alternative to traditional quartz crystals. Its portfolio of programmable oscillators, resonators, clock generators, jitter attenuators and network synchronizers addresses precision timekeeping requirements across a wide range of electronic systems. By integrating MEMS resonators with advanced mixed-signal control circuitry, SiTime's products offer enhanced reliability, resistance to shock and vibration, and a smaller footprint compared with conventional quartz devices.

The company's timing devices serve diverse end markets, including telecommunications infrastructure, data center and enterprise networking, consumer electronics, automotive systems, industrial automation, and aerospace and defense applications.

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