Simmons Bank Cuts Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Simmons Bank trimmed its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,670 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 209 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $3,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 10,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,499 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Global Investments grew its position in Microchip Technology by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 8,463 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on MCHP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $59.77 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $56.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.72. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a twelve month low of $50.21 and a twelve month high of $100.57. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $32.15 billion, a PE ratio of 106.73 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 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.