Optas LLC Has $637,000 Stake in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Optas LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 350 shares during the quarter. Optas LLC’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MU. AMI Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.2% during the first quarter. AMI Investment Management Inc. now owns 50,393 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,942,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the first quarter valued at $218,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 14.2% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 65,075 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $7,672,000 after buying an additional 8,100 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at about $273,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the first quarter worth about $252,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of MU stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $131.53. The company had a trading volume of 38,140,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 26,317,870. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -92.63 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.46. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $60.50 and a 52 week high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The company had revenue of $6.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 8th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 8th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 53,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $6,354,320.06. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 319,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,032,602.42. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 53,317 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.18, for a total transaction of $6,354,320.06. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 319,119 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,032,602.42. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.31, for a total transaction of $4,412,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 158,617 shares in the company, valued at $17,497,041.27. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 304,840 shares of company stock worth $37,961,924 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Fox Advisors upgraded Micron Technology from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Argus upgraded Micron Technology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.52.

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.