Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 802 Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 18.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,075 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Micron Technology were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the second quarter worth about $39,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of MU opened at $89.04 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.48. The company has a market cap of $99.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Micron Technology, Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.15 and a twelve month high of $157.54.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Micron Technology 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.