Microchip Technology Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Traders purchased 11,939 put options on the company. This is an increase of 49% compared to the average daily volume of 7,986 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MCHP. StockNews.com raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.63.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the third quarter worth about $3,312,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 5,185.4% during the third 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. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 96,163 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $7,721,000 after purchasing an additional 19,663 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 52.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 24,713 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $1,984,000 after purchasing an additional 8,467 shares during the period. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth $20,554,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of MCHP opened at $58.34 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $31.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.80 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $66.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.43. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $55.27 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.43 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm’s revenue was down 48.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 127.27%.

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.