Stephens Inc. AR Cuts Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Stephens Inc. AR reduced its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,669 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 95,064 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 613 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MCHP shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com lowered Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America lowered Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $53.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 96.16 and a beta of 1.50. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $50.21 and a 52 week high of $100.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.25.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 6.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s 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.