Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 2.3% – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price shot up 2.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $96.61 and last traded at $95.78. 6,070,196 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 24,305,803 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance started coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.4 %

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 business’s fifty day moving average is $96.63 and its 200-day moving average is $99.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.84 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 worth $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $135,865,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $192,840,000 after buying an additional 1,334,690 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.