Hotchkis & Wiley Expands Stake in Micron Technology

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC has significantly increased its investment in shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) by 65.8% during the third quarter. This information was revealed in their latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Following this expansion, the firm now holds 1,489,297 shares of Micron Technology after acquiring an additional 590,785 shares. As of this recent SEC disclosure, Hotchkis & Wiley's ownership amounts to approximately 0.13% of the semiconductor company, valued at around $154.45 million.

A variety of other large investors have also been involved in buying and selling shares of Micron Technology. For instance, Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake by 241.7% during the same quarter, bringing its ownership to 41,000 shares valued at about $4.25 million after an additional purchase of 29,000 shares. Similarly, Chartwell Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings by 26.4%, owning 195,115 shares now worth about $20.24 million after buying 40,802 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. also augmented its stake by 23.1%, acquiring 51,832 shares valued at $5.38 million after purchasing another 9,735 shares. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. slightly increased its position by 1.0%, now owning 6,721,126 shares valued at $697.05 million after acquiring an additional 65,591 shares. River Road Asset Management LLC raised its holdings by 9.1%, ending up with 163,272 shares worth $16.93 million after purchasing 13,573 shares during the third quarter. Notably, about 80.84% of Micron Technology's stock is held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Current Stock Performance

As of Tuesday, shares of Micron Technology traded at $98.55. In the past year, the stock has hit a low of $72.93 and a high of $157.54. The company's financial metrics include a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64, and a quick ratio of 1.68. The stock's 50-day moving average is $103.60, while the 200-day moving average stands at $111.32. Additionally, Micron Technology has a market capitalization of $109.79 billion and a P/E ratio of 144.93, with a beta of 1.16.

Recent Earnings Results

Micron Technology released its latest earnings report on September 25th, revealing earnings per share (EPS) of $1.18. This figure beat analysts' expectations, which anticipated an EPS of $0.97, representing a positive variance of $0.21. The company reported a net margin of 3.10% and a modest return on equity of 1.58%. For the quarter, total revenue amounted to $7.75 billion, exceeding analysts' projections of $7.65 billion. In comparison, during the same quarter of the previous year, Micron posted a negative EPS of ($1.21). The year-over-year growth in the company’s revenue was recorded at 93.3%. Analysts expect that Micron Technology will deliver an EPS of 8.31 for the current year.

Dividend Declaration

Recently, Micron Technology announced a quarterly dividend that was disbursed on October 23rd. Shareholders on record as of October 7th received a dividend payout of $0.115 per share. This translates to an annualized dividend of $0.46 and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was also on October 7th, and the company's current dividend payout ratio stands at 67.65%.

Insider Trading

In related news, April S. Arnzen, the Executive Vice President of Micron Technology, sold 4,890 shares on September 26th for an average price of $113.00, totaling $552,570. After this transaction, Arnzen retains ownership of 135,830 shares, valued at approximately $15.35 million, indicating a decrease of 3.47% in her holdings. This transaction was documented in a filing with the SEC.

Analyst Ratings

Recent analysis from brokerages on Micron Technology has yielded various target price adjustments. For instance, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price from $225.00 to $250.00, maintaining a "buy" rating. Conversely, Citigroup reduced its target price from $175.00 to $150.00, also rating it as "buy". Needham & Company LLC reiterated its "buy" rating with a target price of $140.00. Similarly, Susquehanna adjusted their target price from $175.00 to $165.00, giving it a "positive" rating. Additionally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating with a price target of $140.00. Overall, the stock has one sell rating, two hold ratings, and twenty-six buy ratings from analysts, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.04.

Company Overview

Micron Technology, Inc. is a leading provider of memory and storage products globally. It operates across four main business segments: Compute and Networking Business Unit, Mobile Business Unit, Embedded Business Unit, and Storage Business Unit. The company’s offerings include high-speed data retrieval and storage technologies, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and other non-volatile memory devices, marketed under the Micron and Crucial brands.

investment, shares, Earnings