KBC Group NV Buys 5,178 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

KBC Group NV raised its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,413 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 5,178 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $5,529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $5,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,312,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 25.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 19,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCHP shares. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.00.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 1.6 %

MCHP opened at $55.16 on Friday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $54.18 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.57 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.77 and its 200 day moving average is $71.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

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

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 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.