Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 0.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 0.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $91.39 and last traded at $91.15. 3,414,632 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 24,576,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.31. The firm has a market cap of $102.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. 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 Micron Technology stock in a transaction on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 12,887 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 99.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 8,591 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $891,000 after purchasing an additional 4,281 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 934 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 4,270 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 6.8% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 5,629 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $584,000 after buying an additional 356 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.