S Bank Fund Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 81,335 Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Key Points

• S Bank Fund Management Ltd recently acquired 81,335 shares of Micron Technology, Inc., valued at approximately $7 million, making it the firm’s 21st largest investment.
• Micron reported a better-than-expected earnings of $1.91 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.34.
• Insider selling has been prominent, with executives selling over 286,000 shares worth nearly $34.7 million in the last quarter, indicating a significant reduction in their positions.

S Bank Fund Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 81,335 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $7,067,000. Micron Technology comprises about 1.3% of S Bank Fund Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. National Pension Service increased its stake in Micron Technology by 5.3% during the first quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,743,110 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $238,349,000 after purchasing an additional 137,347 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its stake in Micron Technology by 42.0% during the first quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 507,751 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $44,118,000 after purchasing an additional 150,106 shares during the last quarter. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter worth about $746,000. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 7.8% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 903,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $78,566,000 after acquiring an additional 65,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 8.7% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 344,695 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $30,033,000 after acquiring an additional 27,482 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ MU traded down $3.48 on Wednesday, reaching $124.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,405,397 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,154,266. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $61.54 and a twelve month high of $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market cap of $139.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 1.37. The firm's 50 day moving average is $117.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.60.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The company had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.115 dividend. 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 presently 8.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.28, for a total transaction of $291,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 22,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,734,864. This represents a 9.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Mark J. Murphy sold 34,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 264,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,864,415.52. This represents a 11.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 286,042 shares of company stock worth $34,679,277 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MU. KGI Securities lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.