Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 970,145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 175,244 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.18% of Microchip Technology worth $55,638,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $452,627,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 273.2% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,345,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $306,541,000 after buying an additional 3,912,895 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,360,805 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $364,792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,162 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $163,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCHP has been the subject of several research reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 11.0 %

Microchip Technology stock opened at $36.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $100.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $54.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.76. The stock has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.68 and a beta of 1.51.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.02%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

About Microchip Technology

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.