Tortoise Investment Management LLC Has $26,000 Position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Tortoise Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 42.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 452 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 334 shares during the quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCHP shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Microchip Technology from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

MCHP opened at $52.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.29 and a beta of 1.52. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $66.17. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $50.21 and a one year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is presently 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.