Howard Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,080 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Howard Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Micron Technology by 13.3% in the first quarter, holding 26,641 shares valued at $2,315,000 after selling 4,080 shares.
• Several institutional investors, including Arkadios Wealth Advisors which increased its stake by 112.8%, have recently modified their holdings in Micron Technology, indicating increased interest in the company.
• Micron Technology reported $1.91 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.57, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share with a yield of 0.41%.

Howard Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,641 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 4,080 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $2,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,052,973,000 after purchasing an additional 726,282 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% during 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 during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.5%

NASDAQ MU traded up $2.78 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $114.74. 16,274,086 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,775,666. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.84. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.54 and a 12-month high of $129.85. The firm has a market cap of $128.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $2,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 186,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,498,830. The trade was a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 92,638 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, June 27th. The stock was 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 288,446 shares of company stock valued at $34,871,597 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on MU shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $163.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Micron Technology from $98.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.