Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 2.8% Higher – Should You Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 2.8% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $92.66 and last traded at $91.54. 9,228,889 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 26,110,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective 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. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.65 and a beta of 1.18. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Next Level Wealth Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $404,000. TigerOak Management L.L.C. bought a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $574,000. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 172,922 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $14,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% in the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,202 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.