Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 5,392 Shares of Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPWR - Free Report) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,835 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,392 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.08% of Monolithic Power Systems worth $23,569,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the fourth quarter worth about $493,807,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 73.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 776,026 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $459,174,000 after purchasing an additional 328,203 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $140,795,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Monolithic Power Systems by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,528,301 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $904,297,000 after purchasing an additional 214,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Monolithic Power Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $113,547,000. 93.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on MPWR shares. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $615.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp reduced their target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems from $850.00 to $820.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital upped their price target on Monolithic Power Systems from $660.00 to $760.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Monolithic Power Systems in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Monolithic Power Systems has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $779.83.

Monolithic Power Systems Stock Performance

MPWR stock traded up $5.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $715.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 361,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 791,564. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $586.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $617.38. Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $438.86 and a 1 year high of $959.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.18.

Monolithic Power Systems (NASDAQ:MPWR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The semiconductor company reported $4.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.00 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $637.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $633.43 million. Monolithic Power Systems had a return on equity of 20.36% and a net margin of 80.95%. The business's revenue was up 39.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. will post 13.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Maurice Sciammas sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.00, for a total transaction of $8,412,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,015 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,814,515. This trade represents a 74.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kuo Wei Herbert Chang sold 100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.00, for a total value of $65,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $504,400. This represents a 11.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 12,200 shares of company stock worth $8,546,800. Company insiders own 3.70% of the company's stock.

About Monolithic Power Systems

Monolithic Power Systems, Inc engages in the design, development, marketing, and sale of semiconductor-based power electronics solutions for the storage and computing, automotive, enterprise data, consumer, communications, and industrial markets. The company provides direct current (DC) to DC integrated circuits (ICs) that are used to convert and control voltages of various electronic systems, such as cloud-based CPU servers, server artificial intelligence applications, storage applications, commercial notebooks, digital cockpit, power sources, home appliances, 4G and 5G infrastructure, and satellite communications applications.