Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lessened its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 68,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $3,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $5,917,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,312,000. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. bought a new stake in Microchip Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $520,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 9,408 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 9,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Microchip Technology by 25.7% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after buying an additional 19,663 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $53.85 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $57.09 and a 200 day moving average of $69.25. The company has a market cap of $28.96 billion, a PE ratio of 96.16 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12-month low of $50.21 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 (EPS) 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 12.41%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.3 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 7th. Investors of record on Monday, February 24th will be issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 24th. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 325.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCHP shares. 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, February 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Microchip Technology from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Thursday, February 6th. 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. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $65.00 price target (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.11.

About Microchip Technology

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.