B. Riley Reaffirms Buy Rating for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)

B. Riley reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $75.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $85.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 target price (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP opened at $51.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.26. Microchip Technology has a 1 year low of $50.21 and a 1 year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 6.49%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 325.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $636,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131,807 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,143,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,295,000 after purchasing an additional 116,823 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 20.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.