Shell Asset Management Co. Boosts Position in Micron Technology, Inc. $MU

Key Points

• Shell Asset Management Co. increased its position in Micron Technology by 57.7% in Q2, holding 43,686 shares worth approximately $5.38 million.
• Micron Technology insiders sold a total of 109,456 shares over the last three months, with significant sales by director Richard M. Beyer and EVP April S. Arnzen.
• Analysts have set new price targets for Micron, with Stifel Nicolaus raising their target from $173 to $195 and Wedbush increasing their target from $200 to $220.

Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 57.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,686 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 15,980 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $5,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MU. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter worth about $577,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter worth about $252,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.0% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,766 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.7% during the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Richard M. Beyer sold 5,552 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.68, for a total transaction of $864,335.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 96,031 shares in the company, valued at $14,950,106.08. This trade represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.04, for a total value of $2,460,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,580 shares in the company, valued at $21,584,383.20. The trade was a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,456 shares of company stock worth $15,698,445 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MU. Summit Insights raised Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. CLSA began coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $155.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Micron Technology from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.08.

Micron Technology Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ MU opened at $190.96 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.52. The business's 50 day moving average price is $136.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.49. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.54 and a fifty-two week high of $201.00. The company has a market cap of $213.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a PEG ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.56.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 3rd. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.06%.

Micron Technology 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.

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