Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Acquired by National Pension Service

Key Points

• The National Pension Service has increased its stake in Micron Technology by 5.3%, owning 2,743,110 shares valued at approximately $238.3 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Micron Technology, with Wells Fargo setting a target at $170, indicating strong market confidence.
• Micron reported earnings of $1.91 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and marking a significant year-over-year increase from $0.62 per share.

National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,743,110 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after buying an additional 137,347 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.25% of Micron Technology worth $238,349,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $532,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 85,722 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $7,214,000 after acquiring an additional 13,985 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 23,494 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,977,000 after purchasing an additional 2,683 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,000. Finally, Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.7%

Micron Technology stock traded down $3.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $124.27. 18,405,397 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,154,266. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.60. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.54 and a 12-month high of $129.85. The firm has a market cap of $139.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 13.60% and a net margin of 18.41%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. Research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is currently 8.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $28,864,415.52. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.12, for a total value of $1,876,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 148,167 shares in the company, valued at $18,538,655.04. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MU. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.24.

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.