Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,892,368 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $452,627,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.47% of Microchip Technology at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCHP. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 9,871 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $793,000 after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 10.7% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 25,143 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,019,000 after buying an additional 2,421 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 14.9% in the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,569 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 721 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 55.3% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 10,451 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 3,723 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 190.1% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 37,377 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 24,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MCHP. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ MCHP opened at $48.70 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $55.65 and a 200-day moving average of $63.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $48.27 and a 1-year high of $100.57. The firm has a market cap of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 86.96 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Insider Activity at Microchip Technology

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.