ING Groep NV Purchases 126,678 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

ING Groep NV raised its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 14.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,026,809 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 126,678 shares during the period. Micron Technology comprises approximately 0.6% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $106,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MU. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after purchasing an additional 3,315,988 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 15.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,397,885 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Micron Technology by 473.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $348,447,000 after purchasing an additional 2,187,460 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 301,500.0% in the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,809,600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $213,334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,809,000 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU traded up $0.02 on Thursday, reaching $99.94. 6,431,455 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,638,578. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $72.93 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $110.81 billion, a PE ratio of 148.53 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $100.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.94.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,348,790. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

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.