Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 0.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $91.17 and last traded at $90.61. 4,315,004 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 25,121,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.92.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MU. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. China Renaissance started coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a market cap of $105.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Activity 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 shares were 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 directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % 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

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 75.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 241.7% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after acquiring an additional 29,000 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,236,000 after acquiring an additional 40,802 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.