Arizona State Retirement System Sells 989 Shares of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. $MPWR

Key Points

• Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 7.0% in Q4, selling 989 shares and leaving it with 13,128 shares valued at about $11.9 million.
• Insider selling was substantial: EVP Saria Tseng sold 8,963 shares for roughly $11.7 million, and insiders have sold 137,683 shares totaling about $158.1 million over the past 90 days.
• Monolithic Power raised its quarterly dividend to $2.00 (annualized $8.00, yield 0.5%); the stock has a market cap of $80.17 billion and a P/E of 128.11, with analysts holding a consensus "Moderate Buy" and a $1,260.08 target.

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,128 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 989 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Monolithic Power Systems were worth $11,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 2.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,074,033 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $5,591,998,000 after acquiring an additional 134,087 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,134,704 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $1,968,578,000 after acquiring an additional 14,670 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 0.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 863,228 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $794,723,000 after acquiring an additional 6,503 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 18.0% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 692,747 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $506,661,000 after acquiring an additional 105,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 570,719 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $517,277,000 after acquiring an additional 14,132 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Saria Tseng sold 8,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,305.22, for a total transaction of $11,698,686.86. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 156,983 shares in the company, valued at $204,897,351.26. This represents a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Victor K. Lee sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1,212.16, for a total transaction of $484,864.00. Following the sale, the director owned 27,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,644,712.96. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 137,683 shares of company stock worth $158,138,447. Corporate insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MPWR opened at $1,632.06 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1,198.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1,069.89. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $562.38 and a 12-month high of $1,661.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.11, a PEG ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.48.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.74 by $0.05. Monolithic Power Systems had a net margin of 22.07% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The firm had revenue of $751.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $741.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $2.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Monolithic Power Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $1.56. This represents a $8.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Monolithic Power Systems's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MPWR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,200.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,300.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,600.00 price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research note on Friday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,250.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $1,300.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $1,260.08.

About Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems NASDAQ: MPWR is a fabless semiconductor company that designs and supplies high-performance power management solutions for a broad range of electronic systems. Founded in 1997 and headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, the company focuses on analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits that convert, regulate and monitor electrical power with an emphasis on efficiency, integration and power density.

MPS's product portfolio includes DC‑DC switching regulators, power modules, power management ICs (PMICs), LED drivers, battery-management ICs, motor drivers, and AC‑DC power solutions.

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