Banco Santander S.A. Has $7.30 Million Stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. has reduced its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. by 62.8%, selling 141,676 shares and now holding 83,995 shares worth approximately $7.3 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their investments in Micron Technology, with notable increases from PNC Financial Services and Generali Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne, further indicating institutional interest in the stock.
• Micron Technology reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.91, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, highlighting its financial stability.

Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 62.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 83,995 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 141,676 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $7,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $532,000 after purchasing an additional 976 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 85,722 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,985 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 61.5% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,162 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 119.3% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 7,269 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $612,000 after purchasing an additional 3,954 shares during the period. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 19,295 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,623,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ MU traded down $4.26 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,950,731 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,128,400. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.92. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.54 and a 52 week high of $129.85. The stock has a market cap of $117.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.37.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Arete Research upgraded Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total value of $9,852,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 275,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 92,638 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.49, for a total transaction of $11,625,142.62. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 201,326 shares in the company, valued at $25,264,399.74. This represents a 31.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.