Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price objective lifted by research analysts at Barclays from $110.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.13% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.12.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MU traded down $8.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $94.94. 46,495,893 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,774,399. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $105.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $96.92 and a 200 day moving average of $98.22. Micron Technology has a twelve month low of $83.54 and a twelve month high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth $554,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 350,612 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $29,507,000 after buying an additional 32,502 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 38,002 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,198,000 after buying an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $6,060,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 44,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 15,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.