Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 4.7% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price shot up 4.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $102.78 and last traded at $99.37. 11,729,651 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 21,880,461 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.88.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MU. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.56.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $112.30 billion, a PE ratio of 29.05 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $96.72 and its 200 day moving average is $98.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72.

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 net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.