Lattice Semiconductor Co. (NASDAQ:LSCC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Lattice Semiconductor Co. (NASDAQ:LSCC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,200,000 shares, a growth of 21.9% from the February 13th total of 8,370,000 shares. Approximately 7.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Lattice Semiconductor Stock Performance

Lattice Semiconductor stock opened at $62.33 on Thursday. Lattice Semiconductor has a one year low of $40.65 and a one year high of $80.47. The stock has a market cap of $8.59 billion, a PE ratio of 141.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.77.

Lattice Semiconductor (NASDAQ:LSCC) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The semiconductor company reported $0.05 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.14). Lattice Semiconductor had a return on equity of 11.22% and a net margin of 12.00%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Lattice Semiconductor will post 0.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LSCC. StockNews.com downgraded Lattice Semiconductor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Lattice Semiconductor in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Lattice Semiconductor in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Lattice Semiconductor from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Lattice Semiconductor from $44.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Lattice Semiconductor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Lattice Semiconductor

In other news, SVP Pravin Desale sold 2,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.29, for a total transaction of $197,358.10. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 93,903 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,412,635.87. This represents a 2.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robin Ann Abrams sold 10,000 shares of Lattice Semiconductor stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.97, for a total value of $639,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 122,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,838,755.86. This represents a 7.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 14,740 shares of company stock worth $943,026 in the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Lattice Semiconductor

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Lattice Semiconductor by 9.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 452,170 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,657,000 after acquiring an additional 38,826 shares during the period. Pier Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Lattice Semiconductor by 114.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pier Capital LLC now owns 161,505 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,571,000 after acquiring an additional 86,276 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Lattice Semiconductor during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,314,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Lattice Semiconductor by 99.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 59,778 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,172,000 after purchasing an additional 29,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Lattice Semiconductor by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 28,111 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,592,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the period. 98.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Lattice Semiconductor

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, develops and sells semiconductor products in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. The company offers field programmable gate arrays that consist of four product families, including the Lattice Certus and ECP, Mach, iCE, and CrossLink. It also provides video connectivity application specific standard products.