Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 1,483,893 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC trimmed its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 96.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 50,896 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,483,893 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth $34,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 309.5% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. This trade represents a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCHP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $53.89 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $56.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.49. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $49.92 and a 12-month high of $100.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.23 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 325.00%.

Microchip Technology Profile

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.