Clearbridge Investments LLC Acquires 55,185 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 2.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,028,230 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after buying an additional 55,185 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned 0.38% of Microchip Technology worth $185,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,583,723 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $6,152,646,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921,497 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 0.4% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,246,403 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $846,046,000 after purchasing an additional 33,603 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 10.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 7,591,471 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $681,838,000 after buying an additional 736,818 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,363,937 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $582,301,000 after buying an additional 295,626 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Microchip Technology by 17.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,527,709 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $406,182,000 after buying an additional 673,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of MCHP opened at $77.49 on Wednesday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $68.75 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.16. The stock has a market cap of $41.57 billion, a PE ratio of 22.33 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.94.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The semiconductor company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.24 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 28.33% and a net margin of 20.80%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 45.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 22nd were given a $0.454 dividend. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 22nd. This is a positive change from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is currently 52.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.50, for a total transaction of $175,551.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,257 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,710,445.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCHP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $115.00 to $105.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Microchip Technology from $104.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley cut Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.47.

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.