Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 259 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MU. Howe & Rusling Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 103,968 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $10,782,000 after purchasing an additional 816 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,114,000. Commerce Bank raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 53,417 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,540,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 7,833 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 825 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $511,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Micron Technology Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of MU opened at $98.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $72.93 and a 12-month high of $157.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.88 billion, a PE ratio of 144.41 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.80.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MU. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $172.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.04.

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.