Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd Purchases 65,000 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd has increased its stake in Micron Technology by 7.8%, acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 903,000 shares valued at $78.57 million.
• Micron Technology reported earnings of $1.91 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, with revenue hitting $9.30 billion compared to an expected $8.83 billion.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, yielding 0.4%, with a low dividend payout ratio of 8.29%.

Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 903,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 65,000 shares during the quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Micron Technology worth $78,566,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 139.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,370,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,489,579 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,383,442,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375,232 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 198.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,545,882 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $550,903,000 after acquiring an additional 4,352,225 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at about $369,191,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.1%

NASDAQ:MU opened at $123.77 on Tuesday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.54 and a twelve month high of $129.85. The company has a market cap of $138.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30 and a beta of 1.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. 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 currently 8.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.12, for a total value of $1,876,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 148,167 shares in the company, valued at $18,538,655.04. The trade was a 9.19% 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, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 275,067 shares in the company, valued at $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MU. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday. KGI Securities cut shares of Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.44.

About Micron Technology

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.

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