Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 202,871 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 10.8%, acquiring an additional 202,871 shares, bringing their total ownership to approximately 2,085,294 shares valued at $181.19 million.
• Recent insider transactions include EVP Manish H. Bhatia selling 80,000 shares, which represents a 22.53% decrease in his position, while CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares, reflecting an 11.41% decrease in his holdings.
• Several brokerages have upgraded their price targets for Micron Technology, with Wells Fargo raising it from $150 to $170, indicating a strong analyst sentiment towards the stock which currently holds an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,085,294 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 202,871 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.19% of Micron Technology worth $181,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Micron Technology by 139.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,489,579 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 198.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,545,882 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $550,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,352,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,906,368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $8,854,644,000 after buying an additional 2,049,163 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $9,852,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares in the company, valued at $33,877,251.72. This represents a 22.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were 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 owned 264,036 shares in the company, valued at $28,864,415.52. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 286,042 shares of company stock worth $34,679,277 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MU. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $146.44.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Micron Technology stock opened at $111.87 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 company has a market cap of $125.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.46 and a 200-day moving average of $98.13. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $129.85.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders 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 was Monday, July 7th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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