Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 2.5% - Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 2.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $112.05 and last traded at $112.62. Approximately 8,141,307 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 23,386,029 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MU shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $95.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.44.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.9%

The business's 50 day moving average price is $112.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.94 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.75.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.29%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $121.28, for a total transaction of $291,557.12. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,550 shares in the company, valued at $2,734,864. This represents a 9.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Manish H. Bhatia sold 80,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 275,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,877,251.72. The trade was a 22.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 288,446 shares of company stock valued at $34,871,597. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,193,000 after buying an additional 4,264 shares during the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 167.0% in the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,758 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,851,000 after acquiring an additional 28,621 shares during the last quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,412,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 74.6% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,936 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $222,779,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 15,650 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 10,348 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.