Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $69.55, but opened at $74.67. Micron Technology shares last traded at $72.47, with a volume of 8,011,623 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 target price on Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.36.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $88.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.14.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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 0.67%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Micron Technology by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,378 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,062,000 after purchasing an additional 8,780 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,264 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth about $569,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,758 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 28,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 502,374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $42,280,000 after purchasing an additional 52,729 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Micron Technology Company Profile

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.