Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 3.8% – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price shot up 3.8% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $87.38 and last traded at $87.37. 6,898,802 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 21,944,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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 began coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.16 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $99.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Counselors Inc. acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the second quarter worth approximately $211,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 20.6% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,615 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $870,000 after buying an additional 1,131 shares during the period. FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 4.1% during the second quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 3,696 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.6% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 550,866 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $72,455,000 after acquiring an additional 13,728 shares during the period. Finally, Columbia Asset Management raised its position in Micron Technology by 26.2% in the second quarter. Columbia Asset Management now owns 4,992 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037 shares in the last quarter. 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.