Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 8.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price rose 8.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $94.20 and last traded at $92.79. Approximately 12,601,881 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 23,285,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MU. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, China Renaissance downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business’s 50 day moving average is $82.62 and its 200 day moving average is $92.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.14 billion, a PE ratio of 26.60 and a beta of 1.21.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its position in Micron Technology by 114.9% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Micron Technology by 583.3% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.