Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Receives $129.76 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation, twenty have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $129.36.

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

MU opened at $68.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $88.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $96.14. Micron Technology has a 1-year low of $61.54 and a 1-year high of $157.54. 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 results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, 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 approximately $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34 % 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 Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,383,442,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375,232 shares during 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.