Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 720,302 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,423,756 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 720,302 shares during the quarter. Micron Technology accounts for about 1.0% of Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.31% of Micron Technology worth $288,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 888,087 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 726,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,470,875,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 24,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MU. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. KGI Securities raised Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Up 2.7%

MU traded up $2.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $98.00. 22,499,609 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 23,512,370. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $83.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $61.54 and a 12-month high of $157.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

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.