Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 3.8% – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price rose 3.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $87.38 and last traded at $87.37. Approximately 6,898,802 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 21,944,355 shares. The stock had previously closed at $84.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group decreased their target price 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. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Up 1.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $95.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.94 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.82.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 30.7% during the third quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,958 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,174,000 after purchasing an additional 4,921 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,255,931 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $130,253,000 after buying an additional 52,912 shares during the period. Dantai Capital Ltd raised its position in Micron Technology by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 22,945 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,380,000 after buying an additional 4,590 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,283,124 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $789,054,000 after acquiring an additional 321,955 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.2% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 13,102 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.