Alpine Associates Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 330,705 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after selling 10,092 shares during the quarter. Silicon Motion Technology accounts for 1.1% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Alpine Associates Management Inc. owned 0.98% of Silicon Motion Technology worth $17,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 64.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $122,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Choreo LLC purchased a new position in Silicon Motion Technology in the fourth quarter worth $209,000. 78.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SIMO shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Silicon Motion Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $80.63.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology stock traded down $0.66 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $51.45. 229,732 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 418,953. The company has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.21 and a 200-day moving average of $55.87. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a 12 month low of $48.81 and a 12 month high of $85.87.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.10). Silicon Motion Technology had a net margin of 11.29% and a return on equity of 11.63%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology's payout ratio is presently 74.35%.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the semiconductor producer to reacquire up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

About Silicon Motion Technology

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, and markets NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices. The company offers controllers for computing-grade solid state drives (SSDs), which are used in PCs and other client devices; enterprise-grade SSDs used in data centers; eMMC and UFS mobile embedded storage for use in smartphones and IoT devices; flash memory cards and flash drives for use in expandable storage; and specialized SSDs that are used in industrial, commercial, and automotive applications.