Van ECK Associates Corp Cuts Stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,188,801 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 375,397 shares during the period. Micron Technology makes up 1.1% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $857,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.6% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,902,800,000 after buying an additional 206,499 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after buying an additional 892,607 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,283,124 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $789,054,000 after acquiring an additional 321,955 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MU shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $91.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $102.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $96.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.77. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.15 and a 52-week 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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

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.