JPMorgan Chase & Co. Boosts Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Price Target to $185.00

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its target price for Micron Technology stock from $165.00 to $185.00, indicating a potential upside of 49.47% from its current price.
• Micron's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $1.91, exceeding expectations and indicating a strong growth trajectory as analysts project 6.08 EPS for the current year.
• Institutional investors control 80.84% of Micron Technology's stock, reflecting strong institutional confidence in the company's future performance.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) had its target price boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $165.00 to $185.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MU. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $163.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MU traded up $4.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $127.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 25,954,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,102,676. Micron Technology has a 1 year low of $61.54 and a 1 year high of $129.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.89. The stock has a market cap of $142.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 1.37. The business's fifty day moving average is $116.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.42.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.34. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. The business had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.62 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total transaction of $2,200,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 186,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,498,830. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.16, for a total transaction of $9,852,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares of the company's stock, valued at $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.9% in the second quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,235 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.5% in the second quarter. SilverOak Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $364,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.5% in the second quarter. Beta Wealth Group Inc. now owns 6,805 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 0.6% during the second quarter. HMS Capital Management LLC now owns 19,271 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, D.B. Root & Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.7% during the first quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 3,018 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.