Prudential Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,240 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 49,197 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Monolithic Power Systems worth $14,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MPWR. Paragon Advisors LLC grew its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 140.6% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Perpetual Ltd boosted its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 1,042.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,936 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems during the third quarter worth about $54,201,000. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd bought a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,182,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 11.2% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,334,164 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,230,626,000 after purchasing an additional 133,838 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MPWR opened at $601.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $28.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $638.03 and its 200 day moving average is $701.45. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $546.71 and a 52 week high of $959.64.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($0.84). Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 80.95% and a return on equity of 20.36%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $1.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. This is a boost from Monolithic Power Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Monolithic Power Systems’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.97%.

Insider Transactions at Monolithic Power Systems

In related news, EVP Maurice Sciammas sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.98, for a total value of $4,913,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,242,209.70. This trade represents a 30.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MPWR has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp raised their price target on Monolithic Power Systems from $700.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $600.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $710.00 to $665.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $851.58.

About Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of semiconductor-based power electronics solutions for the storage and computing, automotive, enterprise data, consumer, communications, and industrial markets. The company provides direct current (DC) to DC integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to convert and control voltages of various electronic systems, such as cloud-based CPU servers, server artificial intelligence applications, storage applications, commercial notebooks, digital cockpit, power sources, home appliances, 4G and 5G infrastructure, and satellite communications applications.