Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation, eighteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $126.48.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MU. KGI Securities raised Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price objective on Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st.

Micron Technology Stock Up 0.8 %

MU stock opened at $85.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Micron Technology has a twelve month low of $61.54 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $82.62 and its 200-day moving average is $92.99.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,954 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology 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 in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CenterBook Partners LP bought a new position in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,240,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 7.4% in the first quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC now owns 7,383 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 507 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at $697,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,813,960 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $331,395,000 after acquiring an additional 150,590 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 75.8% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 16,469 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,361,000 after acquiring an additional 7,103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.