Essex Financial Services Inc. Makes New $293,000 Investment in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Essex Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,252 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCHP. Andina Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $276,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 646,085 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $58,264,000 after purchasing an additional 20,271 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Microchip Technology by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 611 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth $775,000. Finally, Certuity LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth $367,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCHP. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $87.00 to $77.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Susquehanna reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $92.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 370 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total transaction of $31,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,789 shares in the company, valued at $150,276. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 370 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total transaction of $31,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,789 shares in the company, valued at $150,276. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 1,970 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total transaction of $165,283.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 32,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,759,722.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $91.36 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.95. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $68.75 and a fifty-two week high of $94.63. The company has a market capitalization of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The semiconductor company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 27.59% and a return on equity of 45.59%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current year.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.