California Public Employees Retirement System Grows Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,706,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 419,912 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $212,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $452,627,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 273.2% during the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,345,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $306,541,000 after acquiring an additional 3,912,895 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $636,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,829,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $78,661,000. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $48.70 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.96 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $48.27 and a 1-year high of $100.57. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.80. 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 issued 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 return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. Research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 325.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCHP. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $74.37.

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.