Hartford Investment Management Co. Cuts Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Hartford Investment Management Co. cut its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,535 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,245 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $5,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position 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 valued at $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.9 %

Micron Technology stock opened at $94.08 on Wednesday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.15 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $96.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $104.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Insider Activity

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 stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.