Swiss National Bank Sells 159,100 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,132,200 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 159,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $263,606,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the third quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Micron Technology Trading Up 7.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MU opened at $95.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56 and a beta of 1.23. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $83.54 and a 1-year high of $157.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $96.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.06. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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 Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. 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.