Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 91.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 626,549 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 7,011,987 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Microchip Technology worth $30,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microchip Technology

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 transaction of $29,980.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,313 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,913,979.14. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCHP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on Microchip Technology from $68.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Microchip Technology from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. B. Riley increased their price target on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Microchip Technology from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $75.10.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:MCHP traded down $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $74.56. 4,885,920 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,943,616. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $63.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.23. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $96.98. The company has a market cap of $40.24 billion, a PE ratio of -7,456.00, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.52.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $970.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $962.86 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.57 EPS. The business's revenue was down 26.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were given a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 22nd. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio 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.