Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 2.1% – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) rose 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $105.00 and last traded at $104.75. Approximately 6,046,556 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 25,174,287 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.60.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America downgraded Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.5 %

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $98.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.66. The company has a market cap of $117.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.26 and a beta of 1.18. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.25 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Davis Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.