Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 2.1% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $105.00 and last traded at $104.75. 6,046,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 25,174,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $117.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $98.21 and its 200 day moving average is $102.66.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Oxinas Partners Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $271,000. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,179,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 502,374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $42,280,000 after buying an additional 52,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,659 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 1,840 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.