Larson Financial Group LLC Acquires 428 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,366 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 30.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,430,000 after buying an additional 776,408 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,143,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $180,295,000 after buying an additional 116,823 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 20.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after buying an additional 460,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $52.24 on Wednesday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $50.21 and a 52 week high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a PE ratio of 93.29 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.17.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. Analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCHP shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.37.

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.