Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 35,885 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,020,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 583.3% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

NASDAQ:MU opened at $85.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $82.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.07. Micron Technology, Inc. has a 52-week low of $61.54 and a 52-week high of $157.54. The firm has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,996,320. The trade was a 8.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on MU shares. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.48.

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.