Empirical Finance LLC Sells 1,308 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Empirical Finance LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,266 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,308 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 58,273 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $5,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 93.6% in the 2nd quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 1,665 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $152,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 714 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 315,103 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $28,832,000 after purchasing an additional 4,722 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,246,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $846,046,000 after purchasing an additional 33,603 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $175,551.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,445.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $175,551.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,445.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $257,982.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,682 shares in the company, valued at $3,349,826.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $82.16 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.68 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $85.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.36. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $68.75 and a 12 month high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.24 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 27.82% and a net margin of 20.80%. The company’s revenue was down 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.454 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 52.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCHP shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho raised Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley cut Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $96.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.95.

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.