Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Given “Buy” Rating at B. Riley

B. Riley restated their buy rating on shares of Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) in a report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $75.00 target price on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $85.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on MCHP. Citigroup dropped 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP stock opened at $51.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 92.66 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $58.04 and its 200 day moving average is $70.26. Microchip Technology has a 52 week low of $50.21 and a 52 week high of $100.57. 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 (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts predict that Microchip Technology will post 1.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 325.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 30.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,430,000 after acquiring an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,143,769 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $180,295,000 after purchasing an additional 116,823 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 20.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after purchasing an additional 460,697 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.