Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC) Position Boosted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Semtech Co. (NASDAQ:SMTC - Free Report) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 354,505 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 33,606 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.47% of Semtech worth $16,187,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SMTC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Semtech by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,458,425 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $232,522,000 after purchasing an additional 131,133 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP grew its stake in shares of Semtech by 259.4% in the first quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP now owns 51,573 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,418,000 after buying an additional 37,224 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Semtech during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,239,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Semtech by 135.9% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 42,560 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 24,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Semtech in the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,084,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SMTC. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Semtech from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Semtech in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Semtech in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Summit Insights downgraded Semtech from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.60.

Semtech Stock Down 6.8 %

SMTC stock traded down $3.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.10. 1,881,679 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,815,664. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $44.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.52. Semtech Co. has a 52 week low of $15.05 and a 52 week high of $53.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.54.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 27th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $215.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $212.30 million. Semtech had a negative net margin of 107.21% and a negative return on equity of 154.99%. Semtech's revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.06) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Semtech Co. will post -0.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Semtech 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.