Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 3.1% - Still a Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) rose 3.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $96.34 and last traded at $96.24. Approximately 4,761,544 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 23,444,649 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.37.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MU. KGI Securities upgraded Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. China Renaissance downgraded Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.5%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.54 and a 200 day moving average of $92.04. The firm has a market cap of $105.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid 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 0.49%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,996,320. This trade represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,383,442,000 after buying an additional 4,375,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company's stock.

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.