Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 17,254 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 31.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,710 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 17,254 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $2,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCHP. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 3.4% in the third quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 4,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 1.5% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 10,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 11.4% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Americana Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $55.16 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.77 and a 200 day moving average of $71.72. The company has a market cap of $29.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.57 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $54.18 and a 12-month high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 127.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCHP. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Microchip Technology Company Profile

Microchip Technology Incorporated engages in the development, manufacture, and sale of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. The company offers general purpose 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit mixed-signal microcontrollers; 32-bit embedded mixed-signal microprocessors; and specialized microcontrollers for automotive, industrial, computing, communications, lighting, power supplies, motor control, human machine interface, security, wired connectivity, and wireless connectivity applications.