Principal Securities Inc. Cuts Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Principal Securities Inc. trimmed its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,202 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock after selling 2,706 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $1,448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted 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 valued at $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of MU traded down $4.40 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.78. 18,633,227 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,918,740. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 1.18. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.54 and a fifty-two week high of $157.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.70.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.96.

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.