Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $104.80 and last traded at $103.80. 6,377,761 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 26,172,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MU. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.00 and a 200 day moving average of $102.66. 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 firm has a market cap of $117.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% in the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% during the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in Micron Technology by 14.3% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in Micron Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd 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 period. 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.