Horizon Investments LLC Sells 9,645 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Horizon Investments LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 9,645 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCHP. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 72.9% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 59,673 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,422,000 after acquiring an additional 25,151 shares in the last quarter. RD Lewis Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $638,000. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its holdings in Microchip Technology by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 96,623 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,541,000 after acquiring an additional 12,066 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 12.3% in the 4th quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 390,192 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $22,378,000 after acquiring an additional 42,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 73,290 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total value of $226,717.12. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,272 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Microchip Technology stock opened at $54.57 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $65.13. 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 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $29.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 97.45 and a beta of 1.52.

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 return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. Research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 325.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCHP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price (down from $95.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. B. Riley reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 target price (down previously from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 7th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.37.

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.