ARS Investment Partners LLC Acquires 7,132 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

ARS Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 390,103 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Micron Technology makes up 3.0% of ARS Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. ARS Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $32,831,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Stonebrook Private Inc. increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MU. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU opened at $105.75 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.15 and a 52 week high of $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $117.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business 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) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology 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 transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.