Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Trims Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc trimmed its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 82.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,893 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 137,161 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 30.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,026,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $243,034,000 after purchasing an additional 25,872 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 20.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $220,957,000 after purchasing an additional 460,697 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 5.0 %

Microchip Technology stock opened at $61.07 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $32.84 billion, a PE ratio of 109.05 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year high of $100.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.70 and a 200 day moving average of $68.00.

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

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.