Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Earns Buy Rating from Stifel Nicolaus

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $135.00 price objective on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective points to a potential upside of 34.02% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU traded up $2.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $100.73. 12,684,527 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,253,293. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.87. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $112.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.13 and a beta of 1.16. Micron Technology has a one year low of $78.63 and a one year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.21) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 254.4% during the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.