Empowered Funds LLC Sells 26,379 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Empowered Funds LLC decreased its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 27.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,379 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $4,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,961,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $599,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,263 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $243,034,000 after purchasing an additional 25,872 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $163,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after acquiring an additional 460,697 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MCHP. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America cut Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 2.4 %

MCHP opened at $53.85 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $28.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.16 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $50.21 and a 12 month high of $100.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $57.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.25.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced 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 12.41%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.