Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 34,290,000 shares, a growth of 18.9% from the April 30th total of 28,850,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 23,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in the 4th 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 raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,012,114,000 after purchasing an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Micron Technology by 139.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,370,280,000 after purchasing an additional 9,489,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Micron Technology by 36.3% during 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 in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $128.20.

Micron Technology Price Performance

MU traded up $2.27 on Friday, reaching $108.56. 20,687,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 23,587,744. The stock has a market cap of $121.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.29 and a beta of 1.28. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $83.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.17. Micron Technology has a twelve month low of $61.54 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue 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 year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

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.