Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock investors acquired 259,705 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the average daily volume of 183,679 call options.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MU traded up $7.21 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $109.71. The stock had a trading volume of 24,445,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,309,416. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64. Micron Technology has a 12-month low of $78.63 and a 12-month high of $157.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $103.58 and a 200-day moving average of $109.37. The company has a market capitalization of $122.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.10 and a beta of 1.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.21) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% during the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

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.