Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 2.1% After Analyst Upgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) was up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $115.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as high as $98.42 and last traded at $96.67. Approximately 12,123,322 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 22,466,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.72.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MU. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $129.76.

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Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $98.84 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $96.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.36. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. Micron Technology's quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

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.