Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Micron Technology by 71.8%, owning 15,345 shares after selling 38,990 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have significantly raised their price targets for Micron Technology, with Barclays setting it at $140 and UBS at $155, reflecting a strong bullish sentiment on the stock.
• Insider selling has occurred with EVP Manish H. Bhatia selling 80,000 shares valued at approximately $9.85 million, indicating notable executive moves amid fluctuating stock prices.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 71.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,345 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 38,990 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $1,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,688,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 23,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 10,481 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the period. Carson Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Carson Advisory Inc. now owns 8,592 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Allen Capital Group LLC now owns 4,460 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $388,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $98.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,877,251.72. This represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.12, for a total transaction of $1,876,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 148,167 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,538,655.04. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 288,446 shares of company stock valued at $34,871,597 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU stock opened at $111.26 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $112.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.56. The company has a market cap of $124.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.05 and a beta of 1.35. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $61.54 and a 12 month high of $129.85.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.29%.

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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