Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 3,999 Shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,838 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,999 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Microchip Technology were worth $3,683,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Microchip Technology in the third quarter worth $36,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on Microchip Technology from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Microchip Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded Microchip Technology from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Microchip Technology from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $92.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 1,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total value of $165,283.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,759,722.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 1,970 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.90, for a total value of $165,283.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 32,893 shares in the company, valued at $2,759,722.70. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.00, for a total value of $31,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,789 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $150,276. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.07% of the company’s stock.

Microchip Technology Price Performance

Shares of MCHP stock opened at $90.68 on Thursday. Microchip Technology Incorporated has a 1-year low of $68.75 and a 1-year high of $94.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $86.81 and its 200 day moving average is $84.50. The company has a market cap of $49.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The semiconductor company reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.77 billion. Microchip Technology had a return on equity of 45.59% and a net margin of 27.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microchip Technology Incorporated will post 4.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is an increase from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.06%.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Incorporated develops, manufactures, and sells 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 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.