Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) Shares Bought by Cincinnati Financial Corp

Key Points

• Cincinnati Financial Corp increased its stake in Microchip Technology by 13.7% during the first quarter, holding approximately $43 million worth of shares.
• Analysts have rated Microchip Technology stock with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $75.70, with multiple firms including Citigroup and Goldman Sachs issuing buy ratings.
• Microchip Technology reported earnings of $0.11 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, although revenue declined by 26.8% year-over-year.

Cincinnati Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 13.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 889,750 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after purchasing an additional 107,500 shares during the quarter. Microchip Technology accounts for 1.0% of Cincinnati Financial Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Cincinnati Financial Corp owned about 0.17% of Microchip Technology worth $43,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCHP. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $922,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Microchip Technology by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 621,164 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $35,481,000 after acquiring an additional 41,077 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC increased its position in Microchip Technology by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its position in Microchip Technology by 312.7% during the fourth quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 113,237 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $6,494,000 after acquiring an additional 85,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Microchip Technology by 90.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,360,805 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $364,792,000 after acquiring an additional 3,013,162 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 494 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total value of $29,980.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,468 shares of the company's stock, valued at $210,472.92. This trade represents a 12.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.78, for a total value of $112,396.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,913,979.14. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.94% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 1.8%

NASDAQ MCHP traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $66.36. 11,541,664 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,927,445. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a PE ratio of -6,636.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.55. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $68.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.76. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52 week low of $34.13 and a 52 week high of $82.87.

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

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -18,200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCHP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Microchip Technology from $69.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. B. Riley raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.70.

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.