Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Cuts Stock Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co cut its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 14.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,071 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 30,828 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $24,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 26.5% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 2,757 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 2,034 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $178,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in Micron Technology by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 8,059 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $688,000 after buying an additional 948 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $1,009,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ MU traded down $3.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $86.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 23,388,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,325,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.80. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $63.83 and a fifty-two week high of $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $95.78 billion, a PE ratio of -60.83 and a beta of 1.17.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 81.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. Analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -32.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,335,731.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total value of $664,355.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,321 shares in the company, valued at $19,335,731.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.57, for a total transaction of $941,990.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 719,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $96,762,423.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,174 shares of company stock valued at $6,827,113. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.12.

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.