Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Stock Price Down 4.8% on Analyst Downgrade

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)’s share price fell 4.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after Citigroup lowered their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $50.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Microchip Technology traded as low as $35.47 and last traded at $36.94. 3,740,013 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 7,905,428 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.81.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on MCHP. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,952,123,000 after acquiring an additional 569,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $587,718,000 after acquiring an additional 890,819 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,774,000 after buying an additional 653,705 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $52.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.13 and a beta of 1.51.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 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 12.62%. As a group, research analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

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.