Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Trading Down 3.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) shares dropped 3.9% during mid-day trading on Friday after B. Riley lowered their price target on the stock from $93.00 to $85.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microchip Technology traded as low as $57.01 and last traded at $57.26. Approximately 875,467 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,023,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $59.57.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 target price (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America downgraded Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCHP. APG Asset Management N.V. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 14.7% in the second quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 416,117 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $35,526,000 after purchasing an additional 53,434 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the second quarter worth $3,609,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 78.3% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $200,329,000 after acquiring an additional 961,801 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 38.3% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 64,624 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,913,000 after acquiring an additional 17,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the second quarter worth $339,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $30.28 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.