Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 1.5% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares rose 1.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $94.26 and last traded at $93.87. Approximately 5,414,424 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 25,747,252 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.35. 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 market capitalization of $103.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after buying an additional 1,323,352 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.