Heartland Advisors Inc. Acquires 79,383 Shares of Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO)

Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Silicon Motion Technology Co. (NASDAQ:SIMO) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 447,138 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock after buying an additional 79,383 shares during the period. Silicon Motion Technology comprises approximately 1.3% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Silicon Motion Technology were worth $24,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Silicon Motion Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,331,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 27.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,239,574 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock valued at $136,032,000 after acquiring an additional 485,862 shares during the period. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology during the third quarter worth about $13,211,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,103,913 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $67,051,000 after acquiring an additional 196,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Silicon Motion Technology by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 570,816 shares of the semiconductor producer’s stock worth $34,671,000 after acquiring an additional 152,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.02% of the company’s stock.

Silicon Motion Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ SIMO opened at $51.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.71. Silicon Motion Technology Co. has a 12 month low of $48.81 and a 12 month high of $85.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.38.

Silicon Motion Technology (NASDAQ:SIMO) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The semiconductor producer reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Silicon Motion Technology Co. will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Silicon Motion Technology declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 5th that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the semiconductor producer to buy up to 2.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Silicon Motion Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 13th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 13th. Silicon Motion Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 74.35%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a research note 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Silicon Motion Technology in a report on Monday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.