Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 1.4% - Should You Buy?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $95.80 and last traded at $95.74. 3,144,911 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 23,455,107 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of a number of research reports. KGI Securities raised Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an "equal weight" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $115.39 billion, a PE ratio of 29.76 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $83.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.03.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at $57,628,000. SWS Partners raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the first quarter. SWS Partners now owns 21,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,871,000 after buying an additional 531 shares in the last quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 555.9% during the first quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,528,000 after buying an additional 14,908 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 312.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 138,878 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $12,067,000 after buying an additional 105,178 shares during the period. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. grew its position in Micron Technology by 278.8% during the first quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 20,901 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,816,000 after buying an additional 15,384 shares in the last quarter. 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.