Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 0.6%

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price shot up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $94.05 and last traded at $92.61. 8,082,715 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 21,328,299 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MU. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 31st. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.92.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.11 billion, a PE ratio of -65.22 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.66.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The firm had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.57) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.58 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, July 8th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 12,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.01, for a total value of $1,476,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 218,048 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,822,084.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total transaction of $664,355.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 142,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 12,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.01, for a total transaction of $1,476,120.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 218,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,822,084.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,174 shares of company stock valued at $13,716,343. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth $769,372,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 22.2% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 18,243,633 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,150,743,000 after acquiring an additional 3,315,988 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 125.0% during the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,541,662 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $387,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,523,267 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,303,506 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,157,800,000 after acquiring an additional 2,397,885 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 473.8% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,649,180 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $348,447,000 after acquiring an additional 2,187,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% 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.