FORA Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

FORA Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 33.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,735 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 26,518 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $4,234,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCHP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 148.8% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 530 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCHP. Bank of America cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $110.00 to $90.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho set a $95.00 target price on Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.00.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP traded down $1.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 319,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,055,275. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.80. The firm has a market cap of $36.16 billion, a PE ratio of 47.84 and a beta of 1.53. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $62.63 and a one year high of $100.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company had revenue of $1.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. Microchip Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd will be issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.70%. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 127.27%.

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.