Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Shares Sold by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 55.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 109,054 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 137,941 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $9,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 18,944.8% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,973,045 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $177,002,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,685 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microchip Technology by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,583,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,152,646,000 after buying an additional 1,921,497 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 425.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,377,099 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $123,540,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,962 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 17.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,068,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $544,388,000 after acquiring an additional 891,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 10.7% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,591,471 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $681,838,000 after acquiring an additional 736,818 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCHP has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $110.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley downgraded Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Microchip Technology from $104.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $175,551.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,710,445.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $78.22 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.94, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a twelve month low of $68.75 and a twelve month high of $100.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54 and a beta of 1.53.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 20.80%. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 45.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.454 dividend. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.16%.

Microchip Technology Company 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.