J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Has $6.39 Million Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG significantly reduced its stake in Micron Technology by 39.9%, now holding 73,589 shares valued at approximately $6.39 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Bank of Nova Scotia, have increased their stakes, with Bank of Nova Scotia raising its ownership by 140.8% to over 1.3 million shares.
• Micron recently reported earnings of $1.91 per share, surpassing estimates, and has a projected average price target of $146.44 from analysts, indicating a general positive sentiment.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,589 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 48,831 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $6,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter worth $33,000. Roxbury Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 306.1% during the first quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 100.0% during the first quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 3.9%

NASDAQ MU traded down $4.26 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.88. 23,950,731 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,128,400. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.54 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 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. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $114.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.92.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Arete Research raised Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $28,864,415.52. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 286,042 shares of company stock worth $34,679,277 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.