Empire Life Investments Inc. Increases Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Empire Life Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 113,294 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares during the period. Empire Life Investments Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $9,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 219.6% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 5,290 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $549,000 after buying an additional 3,635 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning boosted its position in Micron Technology by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 161,774 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $16,751,000 after buying an additional 12,168 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Micron Technology by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,455,819 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $358,403,000 after buying an additional 806,639 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,296 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 92.9% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,700 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Up 4.0 %

Micron Technology stock opened at $99.52 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 1.18. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.15 and a 12-month high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Mizuho cut 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.