Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Semtech Corporation $SMTC

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Semtech Corporation (NASDAQ:SMTC) by 2.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 418,964 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 10,815 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Semtech were worth $29,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Semtech by 78.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 653 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Semtech in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in Semtech during the third quarter worth about $41,000. AlphaQuest LLC increased its stake in Semtech by 42.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 580 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Semtech by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the period.

Semtech Stock Performance

Semtech stock opened at $86.50 on Friday. Semtech Corporation has a 12-month low of $24.05 and a 12-month high of $90.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.43 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The company has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 279.03 and a beta of 2.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.32.

Semtech (NASDAQ:SMTC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 24th. The semiconductor company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. Semtech had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 2.77%.The company had revenue of $266.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.36 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. Semtech has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.400-0.460 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Semtech Corporation will post -0.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Semtech

In other news, Director Paul V. Walsh, Jr. sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.25, for a total transaction of $39,125.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 25,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,978,081.75. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Saar Gillai sold 3,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.26, for a total transaction of $270,936.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $716,700.98. The trade was a 27.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 16,967 shares of company stock worth $1,316,108 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SMTC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $67.00 target price on Semtech in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Semtech from $76.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Semtech in a research note on Monday, December 29th. B. Riley Financial upped their price target on shares of Semtech from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price objective on shares of Semtech in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $79.21.

Semtech Company Profile

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.