Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

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

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 2,509 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 4,056.0% in the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 14,255 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 13,912 shares during the last quarter. Keel Point LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 2,207 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 201.9% during the fourth quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 702,259 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $59,102,000 after buying an additional 469,669 shares during 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.