Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Rating Increased to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Bank of America upgraded Microchip Technology from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, May 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $70.15.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 0.4%

MCHP opened at $70.49 on Friday. Microchip Technology has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $96.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.02 billion, a PE ratio of -7,049.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $58.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $55.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. Microchip Technology had a positive return on equity of 8.55% and a negative net margin of 0.01%. The firm had revenue of $970.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $962.86 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

In other Microchip Technology news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 494 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total value of $29,980.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $210,472.92. This trade represents a 12.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.78, for a total value of $112,396.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,979.14. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Microchip Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $452,627,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the first quarter worth about $369,612,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 63.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 16,707,031 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $808,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,459,123 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 138.9% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,834,550 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $427,681,000 after purchasing an additional 5,136,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $306,541,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912,895 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

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.