Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 2.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded up 2.8% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $92.66 and last traded at $91.54. 9,228,889 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 26,110,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. China Renaissance started coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 3.9 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.02 billion, a PE ratio of 26.65 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Harmony Asset Management LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 75.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,233,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% in the third quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 26.4% during the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after purchasing an additional 40,802 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.