Generali Investments Management Co LLC Cuts Stake in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. $MPWR

Key Points

• Generali Investments cut its stake in Monolithic Power Systems by 88.2% in Q4, leaving it with just 256 shares worth about $232,000.
• Company insiders have sold heavily over the past three months — a total of 137,683 shares (~$158.1M), including CFO Theodore Blegen's 21,725-share sale — leaving insiders with 3.40% ownership.
• Analysts have lifted targets (e.g., KeyCorp to $1,500, Oppenheimer to $1,600) and the stock has a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $1,260.08; MPWR trades near $1,632, has an $80.17B market cap, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $2.00.

Generali Investments Management Co LLC cut its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR - Free Report) by 88.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 256 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 1,918 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC's holdings in Monolithic Power Systems were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MPWR. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 77,483.1% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 262,231 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $237,676,000 after buying an additional 261,893 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems during the third quarter valued at $197,260,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 66.4% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 447,801 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $412,263,000 after buying an additional 178,622 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 36.1% during the second quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 529,124 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $386,991,000 after buying an additional 140,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 134,087 shares during the last quarter. 93.46% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MPWR. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $950.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Monolithic Power Systems from $1,300.00 to $1,500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup raised their target price on Monolithic Power Systems from $1,250.00 to $1,350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $1,600.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Friday. Finally, Zacks Research cut Monolithic Power Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $1,260.08.

Insider Transactions at Monolithic Power Systems

In other news, Director Victor K. Lee sold 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,212.16, for a total value of $484,864.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 27,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,644,712.96. This trade represents a 1.42% 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 Theodore Blegen sold 21,725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1,171.16, for a total value of $25,443,451.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 82,353 shares in the company, valued at $96,448,539.48. This trade represents a 20.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 137,683 shares of company stock valued at $158,138,447. Company insiders own 3.40% of the company's stock.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ MPWR opened at $1,632.06 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1,198.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $1,069.89. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 52 week low of $562.38 and a 52 week high of $1,661.79. The company has a market capitalization of $80.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.48.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.74 by $0.05. Monolithic Power Systems had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 22.07%.The firm had revenue of $751.16 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $741.69 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 20.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 17.01 EPS for the current year.

Monolithic Power Systems Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $2.00 dividend. This represents a $8.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. This is an increase from Monolithic Power Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $1.56. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. Monolithic Power Systems's dividend payout ratio is 62.79%.

Monolithic Power Systems Company Profile

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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