Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its holdings in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,830 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after selling 2,887 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $3,405,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 26.4% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after purchasing an additional 40,802 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,931,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $227,741,000 after buying an additional 20,741 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,375,000 after buying an additional 9,735 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 163,272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $16,933,000 after buying an additional 13,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter worth $1,270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.9 %

MU opened at $96.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $106.82 billion, a PE ratio of 141.68 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.93 and a 52 week high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.21) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 67.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MU. TD Cowen increased their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

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.