Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $43.33 and last traded at $42.88, with a volume of 3527827 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MCHP shares. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $19.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.68 and a beta of 1.51.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,952,123,000 after acquiring an additional 569,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $587,718,000 after buying an additional 890,819 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,774,000 after purchasing an additional 653,705 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.