Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shot up 5.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $106.74 and last traded at $104.78. 24,573,080 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 2% from the average session volume of 24,987,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $99.26.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $115.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 151.88 and a beta of 1.18. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.29.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.