Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Stock Price

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price target trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $85.00 to $60.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. KeyCorp cut their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ MCHP opened at $51.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.88. Microchip Technology has a 52 week low of $50.21 and a 52 week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, research analysts predict that Microchip Technology will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Institutional Trading of Microchip Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,410 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $595,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 1.2% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 32,955 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the period. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC acquired a new position in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth about $592,000. First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the third quarter worth about $359,000. Finally, Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the third quarter valued at approximately $201,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.