Needham & Company LLC Upgrades Silicom (NASDAQ:SILC) to “Buy”

Silicom (NASDAQ:SILC) was upgraded by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $60.00 price target on the technology company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 35.81% from the stock’s current price.

Silicom Price Performance

SILC opened at $44.18 on Thursday. Silicom has a 1-year low of $13.34 and a 1-year high of $52.95. The stock has a market cap of $254.03 million, a P/E ratio of -22.89 and a beta of 1.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.82.

Silicom (NASDAQ:SILC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The technology company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $19.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.97 million. Silicom had a negative return on equity of 9.30% and a negative net margin of 16.57%.

Insider Transactions at Silicom

In other Silicom news, EVP Yuval Karp sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Hendel sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.37, for a total transaction of $44,370.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 29,438 shares of company stock worth $1,334,244 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 25.38% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Silicom during the 1st quarter worth approximately $537,000. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. increased its position in Silicom by 3.6% during the first quarter. First Wilshire Securities Management Inc. now owns 315,642 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,660,000 after buying an additional 10,834 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Silicom by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 3,670 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $54,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Silicom in the fourth quarter worth $3,306,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Silicom by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,155 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 1,751 shares in the last quarter. 52.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Silicom Company Profile

Silicom Ltd. is an Israel?based provider of advanced networking infrastructure products designed to enhance data throughput, security, and functionality in enterprise, cloud, telecommunications, and edge?computing environments. The company develops and manufactures a range of network interface cards (NICs), specialized adapters, and turnkey network appliances that support high?performance packet processing, encryption, compression, and traffic optimization. Silicom’s solutions are engineered to offload complex network functions from central processing units, enabling customers to achieve greater efficiency, reliability, and scalability in their data centers.

Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Lod, Israel, Silicom has grown from a niche hardware developer into a global supplier of connectivity and networking solutions.