Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 2.4% - Here's Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 2.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $117.26 and last traded at $116.83. 8,055,100 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 23,595,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $114.14.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MU. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $129.00.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $129.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.31 and a beta of 1.28. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $88.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.57. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $192,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,904 shares of company stock valued at $4,665,124 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by 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.