Short Interest in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Rises By 26.1%

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) saw a significant 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. Based on an average trading volume of 9,930,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 6.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCHP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Bank of America downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of MCHP stock opened at $54.20 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.79 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year high of $100.57. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $56.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. Sell-side analysts expect that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 111 Capital purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth $751,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 47,419 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,709,000 after purchasing an additional 4,079 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $24,175,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $651,000. 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.