Grimes & Company Inc. Cuts Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. $MU

Key Points

• Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its holdings in Micron Technology by 51.8% during the second quarter, now owning 81,603 shares valued at approximately $10 million.
• Significant changes in institutional ownership have occurred, with Nuveen LLC making a substantial new investment of $369 million in the first quarter.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Micron Technology, with recommendations ranging from $145 to $250 per share, indicating a generally positive outlook for the stock.

Grimes & Company Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 51.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,603 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 87,819 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $10,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the first quarter worth $369,191,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,906,368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $8,854,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049,163 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 23.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,616,488 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $922,467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,641 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 26.3% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,800,052 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $590,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at $96,253,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MU. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, August 14th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Micron Technology from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Micron Technology from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.77.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Micron Technology stock opened at $187.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $134.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.82. The company has a market capitalization of $210.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.56. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.54 and a fifty-two week high of $191.85.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 6.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.04, for a total value of $2,460,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 131,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,584,383.20. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.86, for a total value of $2,712,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 310,148 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $56,093,367.28. This represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,456 shares of company stock worth $15,698,445 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MU? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.