Westpac Banking Corp Acquires Shares of 449 Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 449 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 9.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,752 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,620,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC lifted its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 150.2% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 1,211 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,120,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 55.3% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 5,996 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,545,000 after buying an additional 2,134 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 46.3% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 1,579 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,460,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Monolithic Power Systems during the third quarter valued at $215,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company’s stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of MPWR stock opened at $477.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.98, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.21. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $451.29 and a 52-week high of $959.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $625.06 and its 200 day moving average is $687.80.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($0.84). Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 80.95% and a return on equity of 20.36%. Analysts anticipate that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.56 per share. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Monolithic Power Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Monolithic Power Systems’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on MPWR. KeyCorp lifted their price target 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. Citigroup started coverage on Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $700.00 target price on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $710.00 to $665.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $851.58.

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.