Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 1,800 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,100 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $1,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.4% in the third quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 4,315 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $346,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 10,795 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 1.0% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 17,161 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $1,378,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Finally, Americana Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 5.5% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 3,441 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $276,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCHP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $82.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $90.00 to $87.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.00.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ MCHP opened at $57.97 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.54 and a beta of 1.52. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $54.47 and a 52 week high of $100.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $61.11 and a 200-day moving average of $73.71.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 19.47% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.32 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.14%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 127.27%.

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.