Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) Stock

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) had its price objective upped by Evercore ISI from $69.00 to $83.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the semiconductor company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $39.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. B. Riley raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.53.

Microchip Technology Stock Down 2.4%

Microchip Technology stock opened at $67.93 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $52.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.01. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $34.13 and a fifty-two week high of $96.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.30 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The semiconductor company reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.01. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The business had revenue of $970.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $962.86 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 EPS. Microchip Technology’s quarterly revenue was down 26.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microchip Technology will post 1.03 EPS for the current year.

Microchip Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 22nd were issued a $0.455 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 22nd. This represents a $1.82 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Microchip Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -18,200.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO James Eric Bjornholt sold 2,015 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction that occurred 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 now directly owns 34,313 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,979.14. This trade represents a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Karlton D. Johnson sold 494 shares of Microchip Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.69, for a total transaction of $29,980.86. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,468 shares in the company, valued at $210,472.92. This trade represents a 12.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mainstream Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Garde Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microchip Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 91.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.