Avestar Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Avestar Capital LLC cut its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,329 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,546 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Howard Bailey Securities LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 4,816 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. PrairieView Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 70.4% during the fourth quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 1,193 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the period. Consolidated Planning Corp bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $308,000. Naples Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 79,495 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,559,000 after buying an additional 2,426 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $55.76 on Friday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $50.21 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.86 and its 200 day moving average is $69.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $29.94 billion, a PE ratio of 99.57 and a beta of 1.50.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share 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 anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.11.

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.