Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Takes $26.90 Million Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 317,213 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $26,898,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Micron Technology by 583.3% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 12.9 %

Shares of MU stock opened at $64.72 on Friday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $63.86 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $72.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.65 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.42 and a 200 day moving average of $98.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MU. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, March 17th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One 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 data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.