Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 362,579 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,320,212 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after purchasing an additional 362,579 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.43% of Microchip Technology worth $133,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCHP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 569,699 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 39.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 11,093,007 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $636,184,000 after purchasing an additional 3,131,807 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at about $452,627,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 273.2% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 5,345,096 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $306,541,000 after purchasing an additional 3,912,895 shares during the period. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,706,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $212,562,000 after purchasing an additional 419,912 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MCHP shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microchip Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.37.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP opened at $48.70 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $26.19 billion, a PE ratio of 86.96 and a beta of 1.52. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.80. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1 year low of $48.27 and a 1 year high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.15). Microchip Technology had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. Research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 24th were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Microchip Technology’s dividend 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.