Whipplewood Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,194 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCHP. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased 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 worth $264,430,000 after acquiring an additional 776,408 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,026,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $243,034,000 after acquiring an additional 25,872 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 20.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $220,957,000 after purchasing an additional 460,697 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MCHP opened at $58.86 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year high of $100.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.66 billion, a PE ratio of 105.11 and a beta of 1.50. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. On average, 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 will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.09%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 325.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This trade represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

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.