Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 5.7% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price traded up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $98.22 and last traded at $98.51. 7,651,641 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 22,155,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $108.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.93.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the 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 directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 2.4% in the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $454,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Xcel Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $518,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by 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.