Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB) gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $140.00 to $150.00. The stock had previously closed at $136.60, but opened at $141.58. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Silicon Laboratories shares last traded at $141.97, with a volume of 31,547 shares trading hands.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark raised Silicon Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their price target on Silicon Laboratories from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Silicon Laboratories from $75.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Susquehanna initiated coverage on Silicon Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Silicon Laboratories from $123.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William G. Bock sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.77, for a total transaction of $281,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 32,115 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,828.55. This trade represents a 5.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Silicon Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,839 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 9,000 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Silicon Laboratories by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,169 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $891,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in Silicon Laboratories by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 3,176 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Silicon Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 21,699 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,695,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter.

Silicon Laboratories Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.52. The stock has a market cap of $4.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Silicon Laboratories (NASDAQ:SLAB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.11). Silicon Laboratories had a negative return on equity of 12.60% and a negative net margin of 46.93%. The business had revenue of $166.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $166.09 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.19) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 91.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Silicon Laboratories Inc. will post -3.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Laboratories Company Profile

Silicon Laboratories Inc, a fabless semiconductor company, provides various analog-intensive mixed-signal solutions in the United States, China, Taiwan, and internationally. The company's products include wireless microcontrollers and sensor products. Its products are used in various electronic products in a range of applications for the industrial Internet of Things (IoT), including industrial automation and control, smart buildings, access control, HVAC control, and industrial wearables and power tools; smart cities applications, such as smart metering, smart street lighting, renewable energy, electric vehicle supply equipment, and smart agriculture; commercial IoT applications, including smart lighting, asset tracking, electronic shelf labels, theft protection, and enterprise access points; smart home applications, comprising home automation/security systems, smart speakers, smart lighting, HVAC control, smart cameras, smart appliances, smart home sensing, smart locks, and window/blind controls; and connected health applications, including diabetes management, consumer health and fitness, elderly care, patient monitoring, and activity tracking; as well as in commercial building automation, consumer electronics, and medical instrumentation.