Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 3.5% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) rose 3.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $96.26 and last traded at $95.56. Approximately 5,028,234 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 23,623,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.6 %

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.42 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 261.1% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by 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.