Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Key Points

• Traders bought an unusually large volume of calls—141,002 call options were purchased on Wednesday, a 1,252% increase versus the typical volume of 10,426, indicating heavy bullish options activity.
• Institutional investors have been adding significant stakes (e.g., Norges Bank's new ~$664.6M position; large increases by Dodge & Cox, Barclays, State Street), bringing institutional ownership to 91.51%, while CEO Steve Sanghi sold 98,814 shares for about $7.96M (a 0.99% ownership reduction).
• Analysts maintain a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $86 target after Microchip slightly beat EPS ($0.44 vs. $0.43) and provided Q4 2026 guidance of $0.480–$0.520; the stock recently traded near $64.71 and yields about 2.8%.

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 141,002 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 1,252% compared to the typical volume of 10,426 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCHP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Microchip Technology from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Microchip Technology from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Microchip Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microchip Technology in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $86.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Steve Sanghi sold 98,814 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.55, for a total value of $7,959,467.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,922,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at $799,242,795.45. The trade was a 0.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.94% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microchip Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $664,564,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 958.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 6,339,800 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $446,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740,827 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 13,996,883 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $891,881,000 after acquiring an additional 5,590,210 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Microchip Technology by 38.2% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 14,827,447 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $1,041,868,000 after acquiring an additional 4,101,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 8.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 31,888,814 shares of the semiconductor company's stock worth $2,244,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,258 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 91.51% of the company's stock.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

MCHP stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $64.71. The company had a trading volume of 9,403,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,344,066. Microchip Technology has a one year low of $34.13 and a one year high of $83.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -223.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $73.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.60.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.19 billion. Microchip Technology had a negative net margin of 1.57% and a positive return on equity of 7.16%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.20 EPS. Microchip Technology has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.480-0.520 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 23rd were issued a $0.455 dividend. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 23rd. Microchip Technology's dividend payout ratio is -627.59%.

Microchip Technology Company Profile

Microchip Technology Inc is a semiconductor company headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, that designs, develops and supplies a broad portfolio of embedded control and analog semiconductors. Its product lineup centers on microcontrollers (including the well-known PIC family), digital signal controllers and associated development tools and software, along with a range of mixed-signal and analog devices, nonvolatile memory, power management, timing, interface, wireless and security products. The company also provides integrated hardware and software solutions intended to simplify embedded design and accelerate time to market for OEMs and contract manufacturers.

Microchip's products are used across a wide range of end markets, including automotive, industrial automation, consumer electronics, communications, aerospace and defense, and Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

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