Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,423,756 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 720,302 shares during the period. Micron Technology makes up approximately 1.0% of Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $288,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MU. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in Micron Technology by 63.7% in 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. 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 worth $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Micron Technology by 139.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,383,442,000 after purchasing an additional 4,375,232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Trading Down 1.7%

NASDAQ MU opened at $95.32 on Thursday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $61.54 and a one year high of $157.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $82.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.83. 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 capitalization of $106.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47 and a beta of 1.21.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 0.48%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

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.