Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 5.9% – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares rose 5.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $105.05 and last traded at $105.39. Approximately 9,407,942 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 22,819,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.52.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MU. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. 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 objective on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $118.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $96.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $98.53.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 261.1% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. 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.