EP Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 15.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 14,195 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,940 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCHP. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 9,415 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $849,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 10,689 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $959,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,910 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in Microchip Technology by 11.8% during the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,370 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microchip Technology

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.98, for a total transaction of $318,736.24. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,325,034.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.98, for a total transaction of $318,736.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,325,034.86. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total transaction of $257,982.24. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,349,826.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,993 shares of company stock valued at $2,251,857. Company insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Six equities 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.17.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MCHP traded up $1.80 on Friday, hitting $86.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,590,310 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,836,401. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $68.75 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The company has a market capitalization of $46.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.02 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $92.96 and a 200-day moving average of $89.42.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 24.98% and a return on equity of 36.78%. The company had revenue of $1.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.452 per share. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 21st. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.16%.

About Microchip Technology

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.