Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Up 3.5% - Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shot up 3.5% on Monday . The company traded as high as $96.26 and last traded at $95.56. 5,028,234 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 23,623,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MU. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Up 4.3 %

The company has a market cap of $106.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57 and a beta of 1.18. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $96.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.73.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.