Needham & Company LLC Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Stock

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $66.00 to $77.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the semiconductor company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 24.45% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $68.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.58.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $61.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $69.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.10. The stock has a market cap of $33.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -181.97, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.55. Microchip Technology has a 1-year low of $34.13 and a 1-year high of $82.87.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The semiconductor company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.05 billion. Microchip Technology had a negative net margin of 3.50% and a positive return on equity of 6.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Microchip Technology news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 494 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total value of $29,980.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,468 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,472.92. This represents a 12.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.78, for a total transaction of $112,396.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,979.14. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 39,298 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,254,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $292,000. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 4,176 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 346.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,455 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coign Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $532,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.