Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Reduces Stock Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 14.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 328,759 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 57,196 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $18,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 2.4% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,052 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.8% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,725 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 3,894 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 20,558 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,179,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,680 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCHP. Bank of America cut Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 2.6 %

MCHP stock opened at $50.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.16. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a twelve month low of $49.92 and a twelve month high of $100.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a PE ratio of 90.70 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, equities analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders 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 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 325.00%.

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.