Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Position Lessened by Empire Life Investments Inc.

Key Points

• Empire Life Investments Inc. reduced its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.2% during the first quarter, owning 110,774 shares valued at approximately $9.63 million after selling 2,520 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Micron Technology, with one strong buy, five hold, and twenty buy ratings, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.44.
• Micron Technology recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.115 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $0.46 and a yield of 0.4%.

Empire Life Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 110,774 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,520 shares during the quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $9,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the first quarter valued at about $33,000. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 100.0% during the first quarter. AllSquare Wealth Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Micron Technology during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MU. Arete Research raised shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. KGI Securities downgraded Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.32, for a total transaction of $3,716,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,877,251.72. This represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 286,042 shares of company stock worth $34,679,277. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Micron Technology Trading Down 3.9%

MU stock opened at $104.88 on Monday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $129.85. The firm has a market cap of $117.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50 day moving average is $114.36 and its 200-day moving average is $97.92. 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 data on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

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

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.

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