Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 339.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,255,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,742,073 shares during the quarter. Micron Technology accounts for about 0.6% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $189,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 75.6% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,378 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 8,780 shares in the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Management ETF Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at about $2,414,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America downgraded Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $91.16 on Friday. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52 week low of $83.54 and a 52 week high of $157.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $96.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.36. The company has a market cap of $101.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.27 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

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.