Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 2.6% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 2.6% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $93.34 and last traded at $91.56. 5,994,190 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 21,849,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.1 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $95.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.54. 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 company has a market capitalization of $103.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Harmony Asset Management LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 75.6% during the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. grew its stake in Micron Technology by 241.7% during 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 period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 26.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during 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 period. 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.