Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Holdings in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,439,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 172,235 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Monolithic Power Systems were worth $851,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 44 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Monolithic Power Systems during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. West Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 990.9% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MPWR. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $660.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on Monolithic Power Systems from $600.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $700.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $710.00 to $665.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Monolithic Power Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $851.58.

Monolithic Power Systems Price Performance

Shares of Monolithic Power Systems stock opened at $579.89 on Monday. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $546.71 and a 1 year high of $959.64. The stock has a market cap of $27.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $637.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $697.25.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.01 by ($0.84). Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 80.95% and a return on equity of 20.36%. On average, equities analysts expect that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 13.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $1.56 per share. This is a boost from Monolithic Power Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. This represents a $6.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Monolithic Power Systems’s dividend payout ratio is 16.97%.

Insider Activity at Monolithic Power Systems

In related news, EVP Maurice Sciammas sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.98, for a total transaction of $4,913,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,015 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,242,209.70. This represents a 30.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Monolithic Power Systems Profile

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of semiconductor-based power electronics solutions for the storage and computing, automotive, enterprise data, consumer, communications, and industrial markets. The company provides direct current (DC) to DC integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to convert and control voltages of various electronic systems, such as cloud-based CPU servers, server artificial intelligence applications, storage applications, commercial notebooks, digital cockpit, power sources, home appliances, 4G and 5G infrastructure, and satellite communications applications.