Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Sells 233,082 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 97.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,227 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 233,082 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Microchip Technology by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,279,166 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $836,795,000 after purchasing an additional 87,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $672,196,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 17.2% in the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,068,311 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $544,388,000 after buying an additional 891,297 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,881,646 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $259,867,000 after purchasing an additional 51,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 2,755,496 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $248,491,000 after acquiring an additional 98,914 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microchip Technology

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.98, for a total value of $318,736.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 33,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,325,034.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.98, for a total transaction of $318,736.24. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 33,257 shares in the company, valued at $3,325,034.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew W. Chapman sold 2,748 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $93.88, for a total value of $257,982.24. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,682 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,349,826.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 23,993 shares of company stock valued at $2,251,857. 2.07% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCHP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Microchip Technology from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $102.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microchip Technology from $98.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Microchip Technology from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.61.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ MCHP traded down $3.25 during trading on Thursday, hitting $92.73. The stock had a trading volume of 3,742,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,705,927. The company has a market capitalization of $49.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.54. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 12 month low of $68.75 and a 12 month high of $100.57. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $93.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.20.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The semiconductor company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.57. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 24.98% and a return on equity of 36.78%. The business had revenue of $1.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 40.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 22nd were issued a $0.452 dividend. This represents a $1.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 21st. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.16%.

Microchip Technology Profile

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.