Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 1.7% Higher - Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $85.30 and last traded at $84.05. Approximately 5,001,568 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 23,184,963 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. China Renaissance lowered shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $84.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business's 50 day moving average price is $82.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.99.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Micron Technology's payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $192,320.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,954 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,996,320. This represents a 8.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock worth $1,858,424. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $8,854,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049,163 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after acquiring an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,052,973,000 after purchasing an additional 726,282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.