Natixis Cuts Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Natixis decreased its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 26.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,485,921 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 544,173 shares during the quarter. Micron Technology accounts for approximately 0.8% of Natixis' investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Natixis owned 0.13% of Micron Technology worth $125,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,973 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU traded down $0.53 on Friday, reaching $68.80. 20,670,930 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,229,550. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.23 and a 200-day moving average of $95.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.18. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $157.54.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's payout ratio is 11.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.