Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 39.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Microchip Technology comprises approximately 0.8% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 2.07% of Microchip Technology worth $636,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microchip Technology in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 613 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP stock opened at $53.85 on Thursday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $50.21 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.16 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $57.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.25.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted 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 net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.41%. On average, research analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MCHP. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.11.

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.