Needham & Company LLC Cuts Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Price Target to $85.00

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price target trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $96.00 to $85.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Microchip Technology from $104.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley downgraded Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Mizuho set a $95.00 price target on Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.00.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 2.0 %

Microchip Technology stock traded down $1.47 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $72.87. The company had a trading volume of 6,290,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,325,453. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $76.73 and its 200-day moving average is $84.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.96 and a beta of 1.53. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $71.76 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 1.08.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $175,551.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,445.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 50.0% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 105,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,486,000 after acquiring an additional 35,213 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,079,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 870,072 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $69,355,000 after buying an additional 93,464 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Microchip Technology by 507.5% during the 1st quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,307 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,553,000 after buying an additional 14,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI purchased a new position in Microchip Technology during the second quarter valued at $42,538,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.