Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 3.1% – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price traded up 3.1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $96.34 and last traded at $96.24. 4,761,544 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 23,444,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $82.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.07. The company has a market cap of $107.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.79 and a beta of 1.21. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,320. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Roxbury Financial LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 306.1% during the 1st quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC now owns 398 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently 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.