Nicholas Company Inc. Acquires 42,697 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 390,192 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,697 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $22,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,430,000 after buying an additional 776,408 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,143,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,295,000 after buying an additional 116,823 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,829,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 460,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. This trade represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCHP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 3.1 %

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $53.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $56.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.68. The company has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a PE ratio of 95.54 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. Microchip Technology Incorporated 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 net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. On average, equities analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 325.00%.

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.