Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $92.75 and last traded at $91.82. 3,099,223 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 22,063,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.20.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Up 3.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $105.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.63. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,455,819 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $358,403,000 after purchasing an additional 806,639 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 12.1% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 120,731 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 13,051 shares during the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 57.2% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,660 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Micron Technology by 1.2% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 425,761 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $44,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,018 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Micron Technology by 2.4% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.