Virtu Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Virtu Financial LLC lessened its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,328 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 784 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $306,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position 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. Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $78,661,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 776,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCHP shares. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the company’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 value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ MCHP opened at $50.79 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 90.70 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52-week low of $49.92 and a 52-week high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. Sell-side analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 325.00%.

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.