Howard Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,393 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the third quarter worth $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 390.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 628 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCHP shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $61.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $32.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 109.05 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.70 and a 200 day moving average of $68.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $50.21 and a 1-year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio 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.