First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. $MPWR

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 591,353 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 110,101 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 1.20% of Monolithic Power Systems worth $646,556,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MPWR. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 1,316 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,558,000. ABN Amro Investment Solutions increased its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 1.9% in the first quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 2,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 6.5% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,172 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $15,495,000 after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 48.3% during the first quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 1,145 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MPWR shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded Monolithic Power Systems from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Monolithic Power Systems from $1,500.00 to $2,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $1,800.00 price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Monolithic Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,300.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Monolithic Power Systems currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $1,585.83.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Up 4.1%

MPWR stock opened at $1,383.26 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1,475.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1,294.91. The stock has a market cap of $67.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 99.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.71. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $702.32 and a 52-week high of $1,714.09.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The semiconductor company reported $5.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.90 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $804.19 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $781.93 million. Monolithic Power Systems had a return on equity of 19.58% and a net margin of 22.84%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current year.

Monolithic Power Systems Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Monolithic Power Systems’s payout ratio is 57.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Monolithic Power Systems news, EVP Saria Tseng sold 7,565 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,700.00, for a total transaction of $12,860,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 144,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,170,600. This trade represents a 4.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eugen J. Elmiger sold 12,000 shares of Monolithic Power Systems stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,584.96, for a total transaction of $19,019,520.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,561,953.92. This represents a 68.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 69,370 shares of company stock valued at $112,702,503 over the last three months. Company insiders own 3.60% of the company’s stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Company Profile

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ: MPWR) is a fabless semiconductor company that designs and supplies high-performance power management solutions for a broad range of electronic systems. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, the company focuses on analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits that convert, regulate and monitor electrical power with an emphasis on efficiency, integration and power density.

MPS’s product portfolio includes DC‑DC switching regulators, power modules, power management ICs (PMICs), LED drivers, battery-management ICs, motor drivers, and AC‑DC power solutions.