Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 539 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 18,226 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCHP. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted 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 purchasing an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. 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. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after purchasing an additional 460,697 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,744,000. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP stock opened at $51.90 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.07. The stock has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.68 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $50.21 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 325.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company 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 company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

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.