Artemis Investment Management LLP Invests $6.09 Million in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 71,302 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $6,085,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 12.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 350,644 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $27,314,000 after purchasing an additional 39,693 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,672,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,909 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 200,423 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $15,611,000 after buying an additional 16,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Micron Technology by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 2,121 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.0 %

Micron Technology stock traded up $2.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.47. 22,728,251 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,367,846. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $79.70. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.01 and a 52 week high of $122.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.30 billion, a PE ratio of -34.64 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.69. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 20.57% and a negative return on equity of 8.98%. The firm had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.03) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 57.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post -1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently -13.33%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $605,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 651,759 shares in the company, valued at $56,390,188.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Micron Technology news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 28,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.24, for a total value of $2,462,610.72. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 203,342 shares in the company, valued at $17,739,556.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.52, for a total transaction of $605,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 651,759 shares in the company, valued at $56,390,188.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,228 shares of company stock valued at $24,036,891 over the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $78.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $105.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Fox Advisors raised shares of Micron Technology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.69.

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.