Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $56.39, but opened at $57.80. Microchip Technology shares last traded at $58.00, with a volume of 1,578,066 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCHP shares. StockNews.com upgraded Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. B. Riley lowered their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $93.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.00.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $60.28 and its 200 day moving average is $72.33. The company has a market cap of $31.21 billion, a PE ratio of 40.60 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,312,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 9,230 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 25.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after buying an additional 19,663 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. 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.