Coho Partners Ltd. Sells 236,322 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Coho Partners Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,206,822 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 236,322 shares during the period. Microchip Technology makes up approximately 3.2% of Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Coho Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $69,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCHP. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 55.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 613 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down previously from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $80.00 to $65.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $54.26 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $56.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.14. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $50.21 and a 12 month high of $100.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 96.89 and a beta of 1.50.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 6.49%. Equities analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 325.00%.

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.