Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 5.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price was up 5.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $96.05 and last traded at $93.96. Approximately 9,171,565 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 21,862,434 shares. The stock had previously closed at $89.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MU. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.07. The company has a market capitalization of $107.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s 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 owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Centaurus Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 52.2% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 44,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares in the last quarter. IronOak Wealth LLC. bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth $846,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at $148,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $599,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $103,085,000. 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.