Microchip Technology Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 16,476 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 52% compared to the average daily volume of 10,867 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America downgraded Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.11.

Institutional Trading of Microchip Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCHP. Creative Planning raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 116,549 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $9,358,000 after acquiring an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 85.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 7,178 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $576,000 after acquiring an additional 3,304 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 36.7% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,664 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $134,000 after acquiring an additional 447 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 97.4% in the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 24,842 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 12,257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 308,284 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $24,752,000 after acquiring an additional 11,897 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MCHP opened at $63.59 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 113.55 and a beta of 1.50. 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 has a 52-week low of $50.21 and a 52-week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. Research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 325.00%.

About Microchip Technology

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.