Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 0.1% - Here's Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) rose 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $98.82 and last traded at $98.19. Approximately 3,734,226 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 23,410,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush restated an "underperform" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Friday, March 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.5%

The firm has a market cap of $104.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $82.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 583.3% in the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 410 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.