Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stake in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) by 32.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,064 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 38,716 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Monolithic Power Systems worth $74,945,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new position in Monolithic Power Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 433.3% in the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 32 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 3,400.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 35 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 126.3% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 43 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Performance

NASDAQ MPWR opened at $593.22 on Friday. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a twelve month low of $546.71 and a twelve month high of $959.64. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $698.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $802.69. The stock has a market cap of $28.94 billion, a PE ratio of 66.88, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.05.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The semiconductor company reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.04 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $620.12 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $600.10 million. Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 21.29% and a return on equity of 20.44%. Research analysts forecast that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monolithic Power Systems Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Monolithic Power Systems’s payout ratio is 56.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPWR has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,075.00 to $700.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $610.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital upgraded Monolithic Power Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $660.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $1,000.00 to $1,100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $828.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Theodore Blegen sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 53,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,066,400. This represents a 4.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deming Xiao sold 866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $765.14, for a total transaction of $662,611.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 162,239 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $124,135,548.46. This trade represents a 0.53 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 20,100 shares of company stock valued at $17,153,021 in the last quarter. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of semiconductor-based power electronics solutions for the storage and computing, automotive, enterprise data, consumer, communications, and industrial markets. The company provides direct current (DC) to DC integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to convert and control voltages of various electronic systems, such as cloud-based CPU servers, server artificial intelligence applications, storage applications, commercial notebooks, digital cockpit, power sources, home appliances, 4G and 5G infrastructure, and satellite communications applications.