Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 5.5% – Time to Buy?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. UBS Group decreased their price objective 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. Bank of America lowered Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 8.2 %

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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $96.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.07. The stock has a market cap of $107.36 billion, a PE ratio of 27.73 and a beta of 1.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value 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 represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake 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 acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.