Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 264,958 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lessened its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,395,815 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 264,958 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.13% of Micron Technology worth $117,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 339.6% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,255,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $189,781,000 after buying an additional 1,742,073 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $135,865,000. State Street Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.76.

Micron Technology Stock Down 16.1 %

NASDAQ:MU traded down $14.26 on Thursday, hitting $74.34. The stock had a trading volume of 44,680,525 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,727,681. 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 $74.26 and a 52 week high of $157.54. The business's fifty day moving average is $94.80 and its 200 day moving average is $98.42. The company has a market cap of $83.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Micron Technology's revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.