Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 4,730 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Everence Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 4,730 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $2,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 68.3% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 488 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $4,050,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,970,130. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.30, for a total value of $583,377.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 148,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,753,868.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $4,050,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,970,130. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 306,890 shares of company stock valued at $32,772,127. 0.32% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MU has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $85.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $78.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $78.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $95.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.20.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $121.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.40, a current ratio of 3.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $58.03 and a twelve month high of $130.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $101.36 and its 200-day moving average is $86.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.30 and a beta of 1.27.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by $0.69. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 8.98% and a negative net margin of 20.57%. The company had revenue of $5.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.03) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently -13.33%.

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.