Semtech Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:SMTC)

Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors purchased 3,996 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 79% compared to the typical volume of 2,237 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on SMTC shares. Benchmark increased their target price on Semtech from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Semtech from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Semtech from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $157.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a research note on Thursday. Finally, B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Semtech in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.64.

Semtech Price Performance

Shares of SMTC traded up $3.49 on Thursday, reaching $145.34. The stock had a trading volume of 780,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,126,869. Semtech has a twelve month low of $34.59 and a twelve month high of $149.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.53 billion, a PE ratio of -330.78 and a beta of 2.22. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $98.39 and a 200 day moving average of $85.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $274.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $273.14 million. Semtech had a positive return on equity of 18.09% and a negative net margin of 3.86%.Semtech’s revenue was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Semtech will post 1.6 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Paul V. Walsh, Jr. sold 500 shares of Semtech stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $105.93, for a total value of $52,965.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,779 shares in the company, valued at $2,518,909.47. The trade was a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Hong Q. Hou sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.11, for a total transaction of $180,220.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 73,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,598,575.08. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 36,384 shares of company stock worth $3,000,140. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Semtech

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Semtech during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Semtech by 243.2% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 508 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in shares of Semtech by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Semtech by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 594 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Semtech by 1,745.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 609 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 576 shares during the last quarter.

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.