HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 17.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 90,886 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 18,760 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $7,262,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCHP. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 25.7% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after buying an additional 19,663 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 52.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 24,713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,984,000 after buying an additional 8,467 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 14.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 260,063 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $20,880,000 after buying an additional 32,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 105,694 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $8,486,000 after acquiring an additional 35,213 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 4.4 %

MCHP opened at $61.87 on Tuesday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $57.96 and a 12 month high of $100.57. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $80.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. Microchip Technology’s revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 127.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCHP shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $90.95.

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.