Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Stock Price Up 7.4% – Still a Buy?

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)’s stock price shot up 7.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $61.97 and last traded at $62.15. 6,293,783 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 8,885,386 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MCHP. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 2.25. The stock has a market cap of $34.08 billion, a PE ratio of 113.28 and a beta of 1.50.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 325.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,912,345 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,952,123,000 after buying an additional 569,699 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $636,184,000 after acquiring an additional 3,131,807 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,247,908 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $587,718,000 after acquiring an additional 890,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 7,877,482 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $451,774,000 after acquiring an additional 653,705 shares in the last quarter. 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.