Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 1.7% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Micron Technology shares increased by 1.7% after an upgrade from Morgan Stanley, which raised its price target from $160.00 to $220.00.
• Various analysts have provided positive ratings and raised their price targets for Micron Technology, reflecting strong market interest with a current consensus target price of $187.08.
• Insider trading activity revealed substantial sales of shares by directors, with insiders selling 109,456 shares worth over $15 million in the past three months.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.7% during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Morgan Stanley now has a $220.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Micron Technology traded as high as $201.00 and last traded at $190.96. 36,229,404 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 55% from the average session volume of 23,390,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.83.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Micron Technology from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $160.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $187.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.67, for a total value of $278,070.68. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 20,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,330,287.82. This trade represents a 10.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard M. Beyer sold 5,552 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.68, for a total value of $864,335.36. Following the sale, the director owned 96,031 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,950,106.08. The trade was a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,456 shares of company stock worth $15,698,445 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,980,700,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 1st quarter worth $369,191,000. Slate Path Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at $317,751,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.1% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 23.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,616,488 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $922,467,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038,641 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.56. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $134.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.82.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Investors of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.06%.

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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