Insider Selling: Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) EVP Sells 15,000 Shares of Stock

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $88.44 on Friday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $83.54 and a one year high of $157.54. 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 cap of $98.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.45.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. 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 earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MU shares. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.76.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 94,515 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $9,802,000 after acquiring an additional 34,938 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 349.4% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 11,092 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 8,624 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 885.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,222 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 50,470 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,234,000 after purchasing an additional 3,069 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,726,755 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $179,113,000 after buying an additional 47,653 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.