Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 2.1% Higher - Should You Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) traded up 2.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $98.16 and last traded at $97.46. 7,596,226 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 23,424,787 shares. The stock had previously closed at $95.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Trading Up 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.52 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24 and a beta of 1.21. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $83.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.61.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company 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 quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,954 shares in the company, valued at $1,996,320. The trade was a 8.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Micron Technology by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 34.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after buying an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Micron Technology by 139.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after buying an additional 9,489,579 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its position in Micron Technology by 36.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,383,442,000 after buying an additional 4,375,232 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

About Micron Technology

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.