Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Decreases Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System has reduced its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. by 12.8%, now owning 51,550 shares worth approximately $4.48 million.
• Insider transactions saw significant sales, with EVP Manish H. Bhatia selling 80,000 shares for $9.85 million and EVP Sumit Sadana selling 92,638 shares for about $11.63 million.
• Micron Technology's stock has received mixed reviews from analysts, with ratings varying from strong-buy to hold, and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,550 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 7,554 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $4,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,240,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,383 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at $697,000. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,813,960 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $331,395,000 after acquiring an additional 150,590 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 75.8% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 16,469 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 7,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Steven J. Gomo sold 7,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $876,050.00. Following the sale, the director owned 22,762 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,848,664.30. The trade was a 23.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.32, for a total value of $3,716,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 264,036 shares in the company, valued at $28,864,415.52. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Bank of America upped their target price on Micron Technology from $84.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.44.

Micron Technology Trading Up 6.3%

Micron Technology stock traded up $7.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $118.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,916,857 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,298,196. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.54 and a 1 year high of $129.85. The stock's fifty day moving average is $115.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.