United Community Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

United Community Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 80.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 672 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 2,689 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $39,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in 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 worth $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 776,408 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 20.1% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $220,957,000 after buying an additional 460,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth approximately $27,744,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP opened at $59.77 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.56. 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 $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.73 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $50.21 and a 12-month high of $100.57.

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

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Insider Transactions at Microchip Technology

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCHP. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

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.