Bank of Montreal Can Sells 380,503 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Bank of Montreal Can decreased its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,209,662 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 380,503 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned about 0.23% of Microchip Technology worth $69,374,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCHP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.8% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised 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 purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,627,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,360,805 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $364,792,000 after purchasing an additional 3,013,162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 273.2% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,345,096 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $306,541,000 after buying an additional 3,912,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America cut shares of Microchip Technology from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $72.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. This trade represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ:MCHP traded up $0.71 on Monday, hitting $39.42. The stock had a trading volume of 2,382,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,972,950. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $100.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $52.13 and its 200 day moving average is $60.90. The company has a market cap of $21.20 billion, a PE ratio of 70.39 and a beta of 1.51.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

About Microchip Technology

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.