Short Interest in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Expands By 26.1%

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,500,000 shares, a growth of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 26,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCHP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America cut Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP traded up $1.76 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $55.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,181,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,845,656. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.68 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $56.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.40. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $50.21 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (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, analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 325.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,952,123,000 after buying an additional 569,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $587,718,000 after buying an additional 890,819 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,774,000 after buying an additional 653,705 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microchip Technology Company Profile

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.