Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 33,500,000 shares, a growth of 26.1% from the February 13th total of 26,570,000 shares. Approximately 6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 9,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 1.9 %

Microchip Technology stock traded down $1.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $54.20. The stock had a trading volume of 3,810,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,857,047. Microchip Technology has a twelve month low of $50.21 and a twelve month high of $100.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a PE ratio of 96.79 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.40.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share 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%. Analysts expect that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCHP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America downgraded Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

Insider Activity at Microchip Technology

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microchip Technology by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $3,952,123,000 after purchasing an additional 569,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 valued at $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 890,819 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its position in Microchip Technology by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,774,000 after purchasing an additional 653,705 shares during the period. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.