Independence Bank of Kentucky Makes New Investment in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Independence Bank of Kentucky acquired a new position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $769,372,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 43.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 17,383,628 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,182,608,000 after buying an additional 5,257,201 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 19.7% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,303,400 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,177,151,000 after buying an additional 2,852,688 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 125.0% during the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,541,662 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $387,585,000 after buying an additional 2,523,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Holdings Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 8,336.6% during the third quarter. Phoenix Holdings Ltd. now owns 1,732,231 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $117,762,000 after buying an additional 1,753,262 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 13,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.77, for a total transaction of $1,572,396.03. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 260,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,981,985.89. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $5,850,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 728,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,712,410. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 13,239 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.77, for a total value of $1,572,396.03. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 260,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,981,985.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 304,840 shares of company stock worth $37,961,924. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU traded down $0.70 on Friday, hitting $131.53. 38,140,587 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 26,317,870. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.08. The firm has a market cap of $145.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.63 and a beta of 1.21. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $60.50 and a one year high of $157.54. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.67 billion. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 81.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.36 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently -32.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. StockNews.com raised Micron Technology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.52.

About Micron Technology

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.