Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Sentry Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 14.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,225 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 362 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in 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 valued at $636,184,000 after buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $264,430,000 after buying an additional 776,408 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,026,946 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $243,034,000 after buying an additional 25,872 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 9,901.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,857,654 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $163,886,000 after buying an additional 2,829,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 20.1% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,751,987 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $220,957,000 after buying an additional 460,697 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target (down from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $72.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. B. Riley reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Microchip Technology stock opened at $59.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $32.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 106.73 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $56.85 and its 200 day moving average is $67.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52-week low of $50.21 and a 52-week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share (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 forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 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.