Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 0.4% - Here's Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $101.25 and last traded at $98.74. Approximately 5,010,662 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 21,489,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.37.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MU. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $172.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. BNP Paribas cut Micron Technology from an "outperform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $148.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.42. The stock has a market cap of $114.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.21 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.21) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.65%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the third quarter worth $26,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 128.6% in the second quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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