Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 2.4% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $109.88 and last traded at $109.45. 3,979,481 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 22,041,426 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MU. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.85.

Micron Technology Price Performance

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 firm has a market capitalization of $119.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -75.99 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.95.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -32.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Micron Technology by 0.3% in the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,749 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,269,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Aspect Partners LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 39.8% in the second quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 330 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 1.3% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 57.2% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Group LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 37.3% in the first quarter. Retirement Group LLC now owns 368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by 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.