Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $90.45 and last traded at $88.57. Approximately 8,023,818 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 26,084,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price 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. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $99.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.48.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Leavell Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $290,000. Augustine Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 97.4% in the 4th quarter. Augustine Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,822 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,500,000 after buying an additional 8,794 shares during the last quarter. JSF Financial LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. JSF Financial LLC now owns 3,419 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 879 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $738,000. Finally, Strengthening Families & Communities LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 155.7% in the 4th quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 1,575 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 959 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Company 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.