Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 4% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price rose 4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $100.70 and last traded at $99.52. Approximately 21,261,888 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 1% from the average daily volume of 21,381,818 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Bank of America cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.68 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 261.1% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during 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.