Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 15.7% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 15.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $114.80 and last traded at $110.76. 49,076,055 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 126% from the average session volume of 21,760,393 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.77.

The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 4.01% and a negative net margin of 7.20%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -32.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Micron Technology from $138.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.38.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Paragon Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Micron Technology during the second quarter valued at about $2,309,000. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 13.2% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 13,293 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 1,554 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.2% in the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 21,265 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,797,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the second quarter worth about $445,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the second quarter worth about $5,306,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -76.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.17.

About Micron Technology

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.