Argent Trust Co Reduces Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Argent Trust Co reduced its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 90.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,241 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 112,375 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $3,952,123,000 after acquiring an additional 569,699 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $587,718,000 after purchasing an additional 890,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $451,774,000 after buying an additional 653,705 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on MCHP shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. 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. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report 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 report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $72.68.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 0.4 %

MCHP stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $38.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,695,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,011,089. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.16 and a beta of 1.51. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 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. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $51.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.60.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Insider Transactions at Microchip Technology

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