Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in SiTime Corporation $SITM

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its holdings in SiTime Corporation (NASDAQ:SITM) by 25.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 495,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 169,249 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in SiTime were worth $174,905,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of SiTime by 188.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 75 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in SiTime by 190.3% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 90 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. boosted its holdings in SiTime by 56.1% during the third quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 89 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in SiTime by 3,200.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 99 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in SiTime during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 84.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SITM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of SiTime in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of SiTime in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of SiTime from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of SiTime from $450.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of SiTime from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $661.88.

SiTime Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SITM opened at $659.52 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $595.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $443.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.41 billion, a PE ratio of -652.99 and a beta of 2.94. SiTime Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $186.49 and a fifty-two week high of $901.81.

SiTime (NASDAQ:SITM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $113.57 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $103.51 million. SiTime had a negative net margin of 6.38% and a positive return on equity of 0.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 88.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.26 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that SiTime Corporation will post 3.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at SiTime

In other news, insider Piyush B. Sevalia sold 2,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $484.05, for a total value of $1,170,916.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 84,250 shares in the company, valued at $40,781,212.50. This represents a 2.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Akira Takata sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $860.86, for a total transaction of $1,291,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,531,761.24. This trade represents a 10.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,624 shares of company stock valued at $35,942,053 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.40% 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.