Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 65,635 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 20.7%, owning 382,240 shares valued at approximately $33.2 million after adding 65,635 shares in the first quarter.
• In June, several executives sold a significant number of Micron shares, leading to a total insider sale of 286,042 shares worth about $34.7 million over the past three months.
• Analysts are optimistic about Micron, with multiple brokerages raising their price targets significantly, indicating a strong consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price of around $146.44.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 20.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 382,240 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 65,635 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $33,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 100.0% in the first quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 306.1% in the first quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU stock traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $111.87. 18,953,427 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,117,796. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The company has a market capitalization of $125.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 1.37. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.54 and a 52-week high of $129.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.13.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MU. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $163.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.44.

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.