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

Rafferty Asset Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,423,756 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 720,302 shares during the quarter. Micron Technology makes up 1.0% of Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned 0.31% of Micron Technology worth $288,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,857,205 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $8,403,982,000 after buying an additional 888,087 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% in 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 World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,052,973,000 after buying an additional 726,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $1,470,875,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ:MU opened at $95.32 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.83. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $157.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MU shares. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Company Profile

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.