Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 52,912 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,255,931 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 52,912 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $130,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,174,643,000 after buying an additional 2,022,180 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 254.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU opened at $90.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.40 billion, a PE ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The business’s 50-day moving average is $103.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.67. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1 year low of $79.15 and a 1 year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.26.

Micron Technology 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.