Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 2,455,289 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 33.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,827,835 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,455,289 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.43% of Micron Technology worth $406,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MU. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.76.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

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

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of MU stock opened at $86.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.04 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $98.51. Micron Technology, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $83.54 and a fifty-two week high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

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.