Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Up 1.1% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Micron Technology's stock price increased by 1.1% to $122.18, but trading volume dropped significantly, down 81% from the average daily volume.
• Several analysts have issued revised price targets for the stock; UBS raised their target to $155.00, while JPMorgan increased theirs to $185.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.91, exceeding expectations and showing a significant year-over-year growth compared to last year's EPS of $0.62.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 1.1% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $123.38 and last traded at $122.18. Approximately 4,438,590 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 23,005,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $120.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MU shares. KGI Securities downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, July 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.17. 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 $137.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.18 and a beta of 1.37.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 7th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is 8.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.28, for a total value of $291,557.12. Following the transaction, the director owned 22,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,734,864. This represents a 9.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 92,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.49, for a total transaction of $11,625,142.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 201,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,264,399.74. This represents a 31.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Micron Technology during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,980,700,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Micron Technology by 198.4% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,545,882 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $550,903,000 after purchasing an additional 4,352,225 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Micron Technology during the first quarter valued at approximately $369,191,000. Slate Path Capital LP bought a new position in Micron Technology during the second quarter valued at approximately $317,751,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Micron Technology by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,906,368 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $8,854,644,000 after purchasing an additional 2,049,163 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.

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