Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO - Free Report) by 204.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,271 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,556 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Silicon Motion Technology were worth $447,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 129.4% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 445 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,948 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $2,183,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 123.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 877 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 15.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,215 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 85,265 shares of the semiconductor producer's stock worth $4,609,000 after acquiring an additional 752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.02% of the company's stock.

Silicon Motion Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology stock traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $56.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 99,603 shares, compared to its average volume of 399,956. The stock has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.79. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a twelve month low of $48.81 and a twelve month high of $85.87. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $54.49 and a 200-day moving average of $56.62.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the semiconductor producer to repurchase up to 2.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.52%. Silicon Motion Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.35%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SIMO. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $96.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Silicon Motion Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.63.

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.