The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Price Target to $63.00

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price target lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $72.00 to $63.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

MCHP has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP stock opened at $55.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $62.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.00. The company has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.59 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $54.47 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57.

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

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 127.27%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 406.3% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 2,025 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 70.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 7,192 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 2,983 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in Microchip Technology by 238.4% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 19,086 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 13,446 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $97,000. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 250.5% during the 4th quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC now owns 26,861 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,544,000 after buying an additional 19,198 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.