Aristotle Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Aristotle Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,042,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 455,965 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned approximately 2.61% of Microchip Technology worth $805,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCHP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 569,699 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,131,807 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake 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 worth $587,718,000 after buying an additional 890,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $452,627,000. Finally, FIL Ltd grew its stake in Microchip Technology by 9.0% during the 4th 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of Microchip Technology 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 owns 33,272 shares in the company, valued at $2,025,599.36. The trade was a 10.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target (down previously from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.79.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $47.91 on Friday. 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 $25.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.55 and a beta of 1.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $47.94 and a 200 day moving average of $57.49. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $34.13 and a 12 month high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.13 earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 325.00%.

Microchip Technology Company 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.