Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 0.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $101.25 and last traded at $98.74. 5,010,662 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 21,489,313 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.37.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MU shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.7 %

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

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.21) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.65%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 26.4% in the 3rd quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Micron Technology by 23.1% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,375,000 after acquiring an additional 9,735 shares during the last quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC now owns 163,272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $16,933,000 after purchasing an additional 13,573 shares during the last quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,270,000. Finally, Chapin Davis Inc. bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,056,000. 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.