Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $55.81, but opened at $53.70. Silicon Motion Technology shares last traded at $53.70, with a volume of 114 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Silicon Motion Technology from $94.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. B. Riley reduced their price objective on Silicon Motion Technology from $112.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Silicon Motion Technology from $78.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.67.

Silicon Motion Technology Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.77 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.52.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. Silicon Motion Technology had a return on equity of 11.52% and a net margin of 10.90%. The firm had revenue of $212.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $209.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Silicon Motion Technology’s payout ratio is presently 75.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Silicon Motion Technology

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Silicon Motion Technology by 3,971.4% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 570 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Silicon Motion Technology in the 2nd quarter worth $139,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the 1st quarter worth $150,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the third quarter valued at $151,000. 78.02% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.