Cornerstone Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology, acquiring an additional 10,900 shares, bringing its total to 30,400 shares valued at approximately $2.64 million.
• Micron Technology exceeded analyst expectations by reporting $1.91 EPS for the latest quarter, compared to estimates of $1.57, and generated revenue of $9.30 billion against an expected $8.83 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 0.4%, with a payout ratio of 8.29%.

Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 55.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 10,900 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $2,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MU. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,688,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 1.5% during the first quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,485 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.0% during the first quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 3,443 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.1% during the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,561 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $570,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 92,638 shares of Micron Technology 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 201,326 shares in the company, valued at $25,264,399.74. The trade was a 31.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was 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 represents a 11.41% 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 over the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Micron Technology Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of MU stock traded up $3.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $111.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,953,427 shares, 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $115.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.13. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $129.85.

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 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 analysts' expectations of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 8.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Arete Research raised shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.