Mizuho Securities USA LLC Sells 15,872 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC reduced its holdings in Micron Technology by 15.1% during the first quarter, now owning 89,212 shares valued at approximately $7.75 million.
• Micron Technology reported earnings of $1.91 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, with revenue reaching $9.30 billion.
• Insider selling was significant, with an EVP selling 80,000 shares at an average price of $123.16, while insiders collectively sold 286,042 shares worth about $34.68 million over the past three months.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lowered its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,212 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 15,872 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC's holdings in Micron Technology were worth $7,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $8,854,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049,163 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,458,673,000 after purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% in 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. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,370,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,489,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,712,056 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $901,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287,063 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MU has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Thursday, June 26th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.44.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Micron Technology stock traded up $7.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $118.89. 28,916,857 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,298,196. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 1.37. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $61.54 and a one year high of $129.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.75 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is 8.29%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.12, for a total transaction of $1,876,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 148,167 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,538,655.04. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the business'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 value of $3,716,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 264,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,864,415.52. This trade represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Micron Technology Company 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.