Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Shares Purchased by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 43.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,934 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the 4th 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake 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 valued at $163,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $78,661,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 20.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 460,697 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCHP. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of MCHP opened at $53.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.68. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $50.21 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 95.54 and a beta of 1.52.

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

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given 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 3.40%. Microchip Technology’s 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.