Morgan Stanley Lowers Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) to Equal Weight

Morgan Stanley cut shares of Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $100.00 price objective on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $102.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. B. Riley raised their target price on Microchip Technology from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $77.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $101.61.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MCHP stock opened at $92.61 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.20, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $93.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.25. Microchip Technology has a 12 month low of $68.75 and a 12 month high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 24.98% and a return on equity of 36.78%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.452 per share. This represents a $1.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 52.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 7,830 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.06, for a total transaction of $744,319.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,558,125.54. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 7,830 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.06, for a total transaction of $744,319.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,558,125.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Stephen V. Drehobl sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.88, for a total value of $908,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,470,608.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 23,993 shares of company stock valued at $2,251,857. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCHP. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $672,196,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 18,944.8% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,973,045 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,685 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,583,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $6,152,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,497 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 324.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,815,013 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,678,000 after purchasing an additional 1,386,924 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 425.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,377,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $123,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,962 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Company Profile

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.