Korea Investment CORP Trims Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Korea Investment CORP reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 284,223 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 122,598 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $16,300,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 309.5% during the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ MCHP opened at $48.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.65 and a 200-day moving average of $63.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $48.27 and a 1-year high of $100.57. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 86.96 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCHP shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased 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. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

Insider Transactions at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.