Cypress Capital Group Sells 324 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Cypress Capital Group lessened its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 185,306 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $10,627,000 after purchasing an additional 12,398 shares in the last quarter. Ariston Services Group increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 25.1% in the 4th quarter. Ariston Services Group now owns 4,708 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $270,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 22.9% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 13,422 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $767,000 after purchasing an additional 2,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,143,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,295,000 after purchasing an additional 116,823 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 2.6 %

MCHP opened at $59.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.50 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $56.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.99. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year 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.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 325.00%.

Insider Activity at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microchip Technology 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.