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Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Trims Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology logo with Computer and Technology background

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 223,641 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 81,903 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $19,457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,857,205 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $8,403,982,000 after buying an additional 888,087 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $2,052,973,000 after buying an additional 726,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Micron Technology stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.60. 17,402,839 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,727,958. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $61.54 and a 1 year high of $157.54. The stock's fifty day moving average is $88.20 and its 200 day moving average is $92.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a market cap of $129.19 billion, a PE ratio of 33.31 and a beta of 1.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

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 on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $2,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 186,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,498,830. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,904 shares of company stock worth $4,665,124. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays cut their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, China Renaissance downgraded Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Read Our Latest Analysis on MU

About Micron Technology

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

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