Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 44,704 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Key Points

• Pacer Advisors Inc. has reduced its holdings in Microchip Technology by 44.5%, owning 55,730 shares after selling 44,704 shares during the 1st quarter, valued at approximately $2.7 million.
• Microchip Technology reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.11, beating estimates, with revenue of $970.5 million, but down 26.8% from the same quarter last year.
• Analysts have generally rated Microchip Technology as a "Moderate Buy," with price target revisions indicating potential upsides in its stock valuation from multiple investment firms.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 44.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 55,730 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 44,704 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $2,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $922,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 41,077 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 85,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,013,162 shares in the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Microchip Technology stock traded down $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $66.36. 11,541,664 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,927,445. The stock has a market cap of $35.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -6,636.00, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a current ratio of 2.59. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a twelve month low of $34.13 and a twelve month high of $82.87. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $68.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.82.

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

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 currently -18,200.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCHP. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Microchip Technology from $70.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Microchip Technology from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Microchip Technology Profile

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.