Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 5.6% – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 5.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $106.74 and last traded at $104.78. 24,573,080 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 24,987,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $115.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 151.88 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $98.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.29.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 261.1% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. 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.