Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP)

Microchip Technology Incorporated (NASDAQ:MCHP) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 11,939 put options on the company. This is an increase of 49% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,986 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microchip Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Microchip Technology by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,347,643 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $264,430,000 after buying an additional 776,408 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Microchip Technology by 9.6% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 70,644 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $5,672,000 after acquiring an additional 6,191 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microchip Technology by 3.2% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 36,267 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $2,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in Microchip Technology by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 60,394 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock valued at $4,849,000 after acquiring an additional 8,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Microchip Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $223,000. 91.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microchip Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MCHP opened at $58.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.80 and a beta of 1.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Microchip Technology has a fifty-two week low of $55.27 and a fifty-two week high of $100.57.

Microchip Technology (NASDAQ:MCHP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The semiconductor company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $1.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Microchip Technology had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 19.47%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 48.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microchip Technology will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Microchip Technology Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.455 per share. This represents a $1.82 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. This is a boost from Microchip Technology’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. Microchip Technology’s payout ratio is 127.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MCHP shares. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $101.00) on shares of Microchip Technology in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Microchip Technology from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Microchip Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Microchip Technology from $100.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microchip Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.63.

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.