Natixis Buys 426,749 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Natixis raised its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 6,961.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 432,879 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 426,749 shares during the period. Natixis owned approximately 0.08% of Microchip Technology worth $24,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 309.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCHP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $71.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MCHP stock opened at $38.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $20.72 billion, a PE ratio of 68.81 and a beta of 1.51. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $34.13 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.74.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. Analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.72%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

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.