Raymond James Reiterates Strong-Buy Rating for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)‘s stock had its “strong-buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Raymond James in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price target on the semiconductor company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $95.00. Raymond James’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.24% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on MCHP. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $72.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $71.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.11.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MCHP stock traded down $1.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $51.18. The company had a trading volume of 9,114,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,808,756. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.26. The stock has a market cap of $27.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.55 and a beta of 1.50. Microchip Technology has a 52-week low of $50.21 and a 52-week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted 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 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. Research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.