Vantage Financial Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Vantage Financial Partners LLC acquired 2,569 shares of Micron Technology, valued at approximately $223,000, in the first quarter, reflecting increasing interest from institutional investors.
• A significant insider sell-off occurred, with Director Steven J. Gomo and EVP Sumit Sadana together selling over 99,000 shares of Micron Technology, indicating a decrease in their ownership percentages.
• Micron Technology's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.91, exceeding expectations by $0.34, and revenue of $9.30 billion, which was above analysts' forecasts of $8.83 billion.

Vantage Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,569 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 306.1% in the 1st quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MU traded down $4.21 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $104.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,763,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,242,506. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.75. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $129.85. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $114.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.91 and a beta of 1.35.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on MU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $84.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.44.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.32, for a total transaction of $3,716,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 264,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,864,415.52. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.28, for a total transaction of $291,557.12. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,734,864. This trade represents a 9.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Micron Technology Company Profile

Micron Technology, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, and sells memory and storage products worldwide. The company operates through four segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. It provides memory and storage technologies comprising dynamic random access memory semiconductor devices with low latency that provide high-speed data retrieval; non-volatile and re-writeable semiconductor storage devices; and non-volatile re-writable semiconductor memory devices that provide fast read speeds under the Micron and Crucial brands, as well as through private labels.