Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Micron Technology shares gapped up from a previous close of $118.89 to open at $124.97 on Monday, with a trading volume of over 11 million shares.
• Analyst ratings have become increasingly bullish, with multiple firms raising their price targets substantially; for instance, Piper Sandler increased theirs from $120 to $165, while Rosenblatt Securities raised theirs to $200.
• The company reported earnings of $1.91 per share for the recent quarter, exceeding expectations of $1.57, and generated revenues of $9.30 billion, also above estimates.

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $118.89, but opened at $124.97. Micron Technology shares last traded at $124.50, with a volume of 11,064,158 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MU. Mizuho upped their price target on Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Micron Technology from $172.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Micron Technology from $163.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.44.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.08 and a beta of 1.37. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $115.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.07.

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

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, Director Steven J. Gomo sold 7,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.15, for a total transaction of $876,050.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 22,762 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,848,664.30. The trade was a 23.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $33,877,251.72. This trade represents a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $532,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 19.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 85,722 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $7,214,000 after purchasing an additional 13,985 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its stake in Micron Technology by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 18,447 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,552,000 after acquiring an additional 5,276 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 23,494 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,977,000 after acquiring an additional 2,683 shares during the period. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $479,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently 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.

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