Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Trading Down 3.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) shares dropped 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after B. Riley lowered their price target on the stock from $93.00 to $85.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microchip Technology traded as low as $57.01 and last traded at $57.26. Approximately 875,467 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,023,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.57.

Several other research analysts have also commented on MCHP. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Institutional Trading of Microchip Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $3,312,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 9,230 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 25.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 19,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 3.7 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.98. The company has a market cap of $30.82 billion, a PE ratio of 40.08 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

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.