Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,255,931 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 52,912 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Micron Technology worth $130,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MU. Norden Group LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 3,564 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter worth approximately $243,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 4.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 60,458 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $7,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.1% during the first quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 4,821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $568,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1.7% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 39,598 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,668,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.3 %

MU stock traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.90. 13,045,721 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,080,670. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.12. The stock has a market cap of $124.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.56 and a beta of 1.18. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.93 and a fifty-two week high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. Micron Technology's quarterly revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.21) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology's payout ratio is 67.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Micron Technology from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.