Cullen Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Cullen Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 12,810 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,078,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $1,470,875,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 339.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,255,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $189,781,000 after acquiring an additional 1,742,073 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,865,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,451,987,000 after acquiring an additional 892,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 888,087 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Down 12.9 %

Shares of MU stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $63.86 and a 12 month high of $157.54. The company has a market cap of $72.33 billion, a PE ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $93.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.16.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America lowered shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.76.

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.