Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 51,825 Shares of Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC) by 67.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 128,878 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,825 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Semtech worth $7,971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Semtech in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Semtech by 190.6% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 770 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Semtech by 173.5% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 1,217 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $75,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Semtech during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Semtech by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,768 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on SMTC. Northland Securities lifted their target price on Semtech from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Semtech from $80.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research report on Friday, March 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Semtech from $65.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price target on Semtech from $82.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.55.

Semtech Stock Performance

Shares of SMTC opened at $35.05 on Friday. Semtech Co. has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $79.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.69, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.94 and its 200-day moving average is $51.03.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The semiconductor company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $251.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $249.40 million. The firm’s revenue was up 30.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Semtech Co. will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Semtech

In related news, SVP Imran Sherazi sold 1,338 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $100,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14 shares in the company, valued at $1,050. This trade represents a 98.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark Lin sold 1,359 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.15, for a total transaction of $88,538.85. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,164 shares in the company, valued at $271,284.60. The trade was a 24.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 21,484 shares of company stock worth $993,933 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.