Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 10.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,170 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 241 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $125,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 309.5% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $48.70 on Friday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52-week low of $48.27 and a 52-week high of $100.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $63.90. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 86.96 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCHP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

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.