Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $135.00 to $160.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Micron Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.77.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.8%

NASDAQ MU opened at $161.71 on Monday. Micron Technology has a 52 week low of $61.54 and a 52 week high of $170.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $126.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.07. The firm has a market cap of $180.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.31 and a beta of 1.47.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 17.69% and a net margin of 22.84%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Micron Technology will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 8.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, Director Steven J. Gomo sold 7,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total value of $876,050.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 22,762 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,848,664.30. The trade was a 23.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total value of $9,852,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,877,251.72. This represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 255,946 shares of company stock worth $32,306,159 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RS Crum Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the second quarter worth about $246,000. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the second quarter worth about $43,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 15.6% during the second quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,750 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,325,000 after buying an additional 1,447 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 56.1% during the second quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 5,583 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 2,006 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WT Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the second quarter worth about $260,000. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.