Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 6.9% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded up 6.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $111.13 and last traded at $109.55. 18,543,551 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 21,281,541 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $120.99 billion, a PE ratio of 159.71 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.80 and its 200 day moving average is $109.12.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after buying an additional 2,022,180 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 254.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $192,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,334,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.