FreeGulliver LLC Buys New Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

FreeGulliver LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,362 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $78,661,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after buying an additional 460,697 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of MCHP opened at $54.20 on Wednesday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $50.21 and a 1-year high of $100.57. The stock has a market cap of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 96.79 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.21.

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 anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MCHP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

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.