Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $85.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.95.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 7.0 %

Shares of MCHP stock opened at $65.39 on Tuesday. Microchip Technology has a twelve month low of $62.63 and a twelve month high of $100.57. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73 and a beta of 1.50.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.54 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microchip Technology will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 70,644 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,672,000 after acquiring an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 60,394 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $4,849,000 after acquiring an additional 8,592 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $223,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.