Global Trust Asset Management LLC Sells 270 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Global Trust Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,784 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings 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 worth $163,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 2,390.5% during the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,291,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $209,653,000 after purchasing an additional 2,199,290 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 25.1% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,961,200 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $599,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597,263 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 78.3% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,189,390 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $200,329,000 after purchasing an additional 961,801 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,430,000 after purchasing an additional 776,408 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $58.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.32. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $54.47 and a 1 year high of $100.57. The company has a market capitalization of $31.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.92 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.54 EPS. Microchip Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a $0.455 dividend. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.11%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 127.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCHP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America downgraded Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

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.