Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price traded up 1.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $107.75 and last traded at $107.22. 5,808,713 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 24,632,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.75.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MU has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $98.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.70. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $116.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.21 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% during the third 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 Micron Technology by 2.5% during the 3rd 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 Micron Technology by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 14.3% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $85,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc grew its stake 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 worth $454,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.