Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Cuts Stock Position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR) by 13.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 386,686 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 59,529 shares during the quarter. Monolithic Power Systems makes up 2.1% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Monolithic Power Systems were worth $228,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 6.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 17,586 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $16,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the period. EULAV Asset Management increased its position in Monolithic Power Systems by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. EULAV Asset Management now owns 108,274 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $100,099,000 after buying an additional 8,600 shares during the period. Paragon Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 140.6% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 5,128 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,034,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 29.0% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,047 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $3,741,000 after acquiring an additional 909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perpetual Ltd raised its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 1,042.4% during the 4th quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 2,936 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,737,000 after purchasing an additional 2,679 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.46% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Theodore Blegen sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 53,444 shares in the company, valued at $32,066,400. This trade represents a 4.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 3.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Monolithic Power Systems Price Performance

MPWR stock opened at $720.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $618.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $754.90. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $546.71 and a fifty-two week high of $959.64.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The semiconductor company reported $3.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by ($0.84). Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 80.95% and a return on equity of 22.49%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $1.56 per share. This is a boost from Monolithic Power Systems’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $6.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Monolithic Power Systems’s payout ratio is presently 13.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MPWR. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $660.00 to $760.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $880.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,100.00 to $975.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $700.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $866.17.

Monolithic Power Systems Company Profile

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.