First Merchants Corp Has $856,000 Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

First Merchants Corp lessened its holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 19.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,674 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 4,307 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCHP. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 309.5% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 475 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 494 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total transaction of $29,980.86. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $210,472.92. This trade represents a 12.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.78, for a total value of $112,396.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,913,979.14. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America upgraded Microchip Technology from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microchip Technology from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Microchip Technology in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microchip Technology from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $70.15.

Microchip Technology Trading Down 0.4%

Microchip Technology stock opened at $70.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.59. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $58.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.02 billion, a PE ratio of -7,049.00, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.48. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $96.98.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $970.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.86 million. Microchip Technology had a positive return on equity of 8.55% and a negative net margin of 0.01%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.57 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -18,200.00%.

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.

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