ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 40,018 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. $MU

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 466,667 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,018 shares during the period. Micron Technology makes up approximately 2.1% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $57,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,906,368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,854,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049,163 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 23.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,616,488 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $922,467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,641 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,938,848 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $602,917,000 after purchasing an additional 58,285 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,800,052 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $590,807,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,174 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,366,631 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $379,417,000 after purchasing an additional 17,970 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU stock opened at $187.83 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $210.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $134.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.70. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.54 and a 52 week high of $191.85.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 6.06%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.04, for a total value of $2,460,600.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 131,580 shares in the company, valued at $21,584,383.20. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.67, for a total transaction of $278,070.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,146 shares in the company, valued at $2,330,287.82. This trade represents a 10.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 109,456 shares of company stock valued at $15,698,445. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Arete Research raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $182.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $184.77.

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.