Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Equities researchers at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) in a note issued to investors on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 7.10% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Northland Securities boosted their price target on shares of Semtech from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Craig Hallum decreased their price target on shares of Semtech from $70.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $75.00) on shares of Semtech in a report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark cut their price target on Semtech from $82.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Semtech from $60.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.92.

Semtech Price Performance

Shares of SMTC stock opened at $28.01 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.79. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a PE ratio of -2.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.85. Semtech has a 1-year low of $24.89 and a 1-year high of $79.52.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $251.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $249.40 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Semtech will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Semtech news, CFO Mark Lin sold 2,907 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.71, for a total value of $109,622.97. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,481 shares in the company, valued at approximately $508,368.51. The trade was a 17.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Imran Sherazi sold 1,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $100,350.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 14 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,050. This represents a 98.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,125 shares of company stock worth $905,394 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Semtech

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SMTC. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in Semtech during the 3rd quarter worth $333,000. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in Semtech during the third quarter worth about $237,000. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in Semtech in the third quarter valued at about $10,556,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Semtech in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $763,000. Finally, Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN increased its position in Semtech by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Disciplined Growth Investors Inc. MN now owns 2,609,984 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $119,172,000 after purchasing an additional 114,999 shares during the period.

Semtech Company Profile

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.