Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 2% – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) rose 2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $88.55 and last traded at $88.61. Approximately 5,299,141 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 22,799,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 research report on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KGI Securities raised Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.76.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $98.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $95.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its position in Micron Technology by 5.7% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 4,029 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $350,000 after buying an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $554,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 350,612 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $29,507,000 after buying an additional 32,502 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 38,002 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,198,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $6,060,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.