Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 12,379 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 1,728.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,095 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,379 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $1,544,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 124.2% in the 4th quarter. FengHe Fund Management Pte. Ltd. now owns 351,700 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $30,014,000 after purchasing an additional 194,800 shares during the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $1,613,000. Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,276 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Trading Down 7.6 %

Micron Technology stock traded down $8.31 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $101.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,582,128 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,090,553. The company has a 50 day moving average of $129.76 and a 200-day moving average of $112.54. The stock has a market cap of $112.56 billion, a PE ratio of -74.21 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.41. Micron Technology, Inc. has a one year low of $61.75 and a one year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 81.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.57) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $144.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $143.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.72.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total transaction of $664,355.40. Following 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Micron Technology news, SVP Michael W. Bokan sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.42, for a total value of $1,851,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 138,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,079,723.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 174,730 shares of company stock valued at $22,485,299 over the last quarter. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.