Citigroup Cuts Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Price Target to $50.00

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price objective lowered by Citigroup from $65.00 to $50.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

MCHP has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.68.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP stock opened at $38.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.90. The firm has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.13 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. Microchip Technology has a 1 year low of $34.13 and a 1 year high of $100.57.

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

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.70%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Insider Transactions at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Microchip Technology

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,952,123,000 after purchasing an additional 569,699 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $587,718,000 after buying an additional 890,819 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $451,774,000 after buying an additional 653,705 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microchip Technology Company 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.