Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $90.45 and last traded at $88.57. 8,023,818 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 26,084,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.25.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MU. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $98.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter worth $26,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new position in Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 261.1% in the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.