Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $99.63.

Several brokerages have commented on MCHP. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $104.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut Microchip Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 7,830 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.06, for a total transaction of $744,319.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,558,125.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microchip Technology news, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 7,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.06, for a total transaction of $744,319.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,558,125.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $257,982.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,349,826.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 23,993 shares of company stock worth $2,251,857 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,583,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,152,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,497 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,279,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,795,000 after acquiring an additional 87,203 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 10.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,591,471 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $681,838,000 after acquiring an additional 736,818 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $672,196,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 4.9% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,363,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $582,301,000 after acquiring an additional 295,626 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP stock opened at $75.43 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Microchip Technology has a one year low of $68.75 and a one year high of $100.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.74 and a beta of 1.54. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $91.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $89.42.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 20.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 2.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.454 per share. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 22nd. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is presently 52.16%.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.