Peoples Financial Services CORP. Reduces Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 34,341 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,035 shares during the quarter. Microchip Technology makes up approximately 0.9% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 4,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 10,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 1.7 %

Microchip Technology stock opened at $56.88 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $62.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.32. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $54.47 and a 52 week high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.78 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.455 dividend. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 127.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MCHP shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price (down from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.05.

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.