Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Free Report) by 99.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,784 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 7,809,216 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $2,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,259 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $646,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $663,000. First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 5,549 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,059 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 56,548 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $3,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 362.2% during the 4th quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 243,725 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $13,978,000 after acquiring an additional 190,990 shares during the last quarter. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microchip Technology Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP traded up $0.41 on Friday, reaching $61.21. The company had a trading volume of 6,583,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,534,014. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.97 billion, a PE ratio of 109.30 and a beta of 1.42. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 52-week low of $34.13 and a 52-week high of $100.57. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $47.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.04.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $970.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $962.86 million. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 6.49%. The business's quarterly revenue 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, analysts expect that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 1.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd will be given a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. Microchip Technology's payout ratio is -18,200.00%.

Insider Transactions at Microchip Technology

In other Microchip Technology news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 3,724 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.88, for a total transaction of $226,717.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 33,272 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,025,599.36. This represents a 10.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MCHP. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $58.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. B. Riley raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $65.00 price objective (down from $85.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Microchip Technology from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.42.

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.