Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 3.1% Higher – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) traded up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $100.70 and last traded at $98.61. 8,651,269 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 22,845,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.66.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $110.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68 and a beta of 1.18. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $96.10 and its 200 day moving average is $98.65.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 261.1% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.