Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC Increases Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 250.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,861 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 19,198 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MCHP. Corundum Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.4% during the third quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 4,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in Microchip Technology by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 10,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 2.9% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,351 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $581,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MCHP. TD Cowen cut their target price 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.63.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $56.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.24. The stock has a market cap of $30.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $55.27 and a 1-year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.27%.

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.