Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 0.7% Higher – Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price rose 0.7% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $98.12 and last traded at $96.31. Approximately 7,317,462 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 21,863,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on MU shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.56.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $105.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.25 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $96.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.06.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 75.6% during the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after purchasing an additional 29,000 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,378 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 8,780 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares during 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.