Cerity Partners LLC Lowers Stake in Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) by 21.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,658 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Semtech were worth $204,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SMTC. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Semtech during the 4th quarter worth $360,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Semtech by 42.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 8,468 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Semtech during the fourth quarter worth about $1,058,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its holdings in Semtech by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 19,154 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,965 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Semtech by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,542,545 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $713,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,226 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SMTC shares. Morgan Stanley set a $43.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Semtech from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $68.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Semtech from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.58.

Insider Activity at Semtech

In other news, CFO Mark Lin sold 999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.84, for a total value of $43,796.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 17,211 shares in the company, valued at $754,530.24. This represents a 5.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Asaf Silberstein sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.98, for a total transaction of $85,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 105,996 shares in the company, valued at $4,555,708.08. This represents a 1.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Semtech Stock Up 2.1%

SMTC stock opened at $54.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.29 and a beta of 1.92. Semtech Corporation has a 52 week low of $24.05 and a 52 week high of $79.52. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $43.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.09. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $251.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $249.79 million. Semtech had a negative net margin of 12.52% and a positive return on equity of 19.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.06 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Semtech

Semtech Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and markets analog and mixed-signal semiconductor and advanced algorithms. It provides signal integrity products, including a portfolio of optical data communications and video transport products used in various infrastructure, and industrial applications; a portfolio of integrated circuits for data centers, enterprise networks, passive optical networks, wireless base station optical transceivers, and high-speed interface applications; and video products for broadcast applications, as well as video-over-IP technology for professional audio video applications.