Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,827,835 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,455,289 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $406,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MU. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 583.3% in the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of Micron Technology stock opened at $86.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The business has a 50-day moving average of $95.62 and a 200 day moving average of $98.51. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12 month low of $83.54 and a 12 month high of $157.54.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. KGI Securities upgraded Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price target on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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, the company 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.