Traders Purchase Large Volume of Micron Technology Call Options (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 256,329 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 22% compared to the average daily volume of 209,952 call options.

Insider Transactions 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 stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 7.1% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 13,028 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,714,000 after purchasing an additional 858 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 10.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 10,089 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,327,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 414.3% in the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 540 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 4,052 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $533,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 10,157.2% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 266,585 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 263,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MU opened at $101.91 on Wednesday. Micron Technology has a one year low of $79.15 and a one year high of $157.54. The stock has a market cap of $113.55 billion, a PE ratio of 149.87 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $98.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MU. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Company Profile

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.