Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Invests $3.02 Million in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 35,885 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MU. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 583.3% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $85.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.07. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.54 and a 52 week high of $157.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, April 28th. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.48.

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.