West Branch Capital LLC Has $201,000 Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

West Branch Capital LLC reduced its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,503 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 843 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 2,390.5% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,291,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $209,653,000 after acquiring an additional 2,199,290 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Microchip Technology by 25.1% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,961,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $599,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597,263 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in Microchip Technology by 78.3% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $200,329,000 after acquiring an additional 961,801 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 30.2% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $58.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $31.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $54.47 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 127.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCHP. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Microchip Technology 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.