Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Downgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $100.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $102.00.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Microchip Technology in a research report on Monday, May 13th. They issued a buy rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded Microchip Technology from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Microchip Technology from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a positive rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $101.61.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ MCHP opened at $92.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $49.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54 and a beta of 1.54. Microchip Technology has a twelve month low of $68.75 and a twelve month high of $100.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.56 and its 200 day moving average is $89.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. The firm had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 36.78% and a net margin of 24.98%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microchip Technology will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $257,982.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,682 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,826.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.88, for a total value of $908,800.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 82,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,470,608.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $257,982.24. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 35,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,349,826.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,993 shares of company stock worth $2,251,857 over the last three months. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,583,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,152,646,000 after buying an additional 1,921,497 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,279,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $836,795,000 after buying an additional 87,203 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,591,471 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $681,838,000 after buying an additional 736,818 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $672,196,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,068,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $544,388,000 after buying an additional 891,297 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.