Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $101.30 and last traded at $100.87. 4,024,555 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 21,363,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on MU shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Trading Up 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $113.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 148.34 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 47.0% in the 2nd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 3,026 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in Micron Technology by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,334 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the second quarter valued at approximately $234,000. Gilman Hill Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter worth $293,000. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 534.9% during the second quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,092 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently 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.