Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 5.6% Higher – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price shot up 5.6% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $106.74 and last traded at $104.78. 24,573,080 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 24,987,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group cut 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. BNP Paribas lowered Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.5 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $98.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $110.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 146.19 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in the third 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 increased its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after buying an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.