Stablepoint Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 6,762 Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 6,762 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MU. Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 75.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% during the third quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares in the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,236,000 after purchasing an additional 40,802 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,375,000 after buying an additional 9,735 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU stock opened at $103.19 on Monday. 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 $114.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $98.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.32. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $79.15 and a one year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on MU shares. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

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.