Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 14,694 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 246,047 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 14,694 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $19,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,246,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $846,046,000 after purchasing an additional 33,603 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 25.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,961,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $599,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,263 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 2.4% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,455,317 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $407,660,000 after purchasing an additional 103,807 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,298,771 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $301,797,000 after buying an additional 575,087 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MCHP shares. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.95.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP stock opened at $59.93 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $70.49 and a 200 day moving average of $79.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $32.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.91 and a beta of 1.50. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $57.96 and a 1 year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.54 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.27%.

Microchip Technology 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.