Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 5.5% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Micron Technology's stock soared 5.5% after UBS Group raised its price target from $225.00 to $245.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Insider selling activity has been notable, with CEO Sanjay Mehrotra selling 21,563 shares for over $4 million recently, indicating a 7.33% decrease in his stake.
• Institutional investors hold 80.84% of Micron’s stock, with Vanguard and State Street recently increasing their stakes, reflecting growing confidence in the company.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 5.5% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $245.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as high as $206.34 and last traded at $202.53. Approximately 41,737,962 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 78% from the average daily volume of 23,445,021 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.94.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on MU. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $165.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded Micron Technology from a "strong sell" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $173.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $196.71.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 21,563 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.47, for a total value of $4,063,978.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 272,648 shares in the company, valued at $51,385,968.56. This trade represents a 7.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.04, for a total value of $2,460,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,580 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,584,383.20. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 146,956 shares of company stock valued at $22,841,025 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 103,879,662 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $12,803,168,000 after buying an additional 1,973,294 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 51,373,591 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $6,331,795,000 after buying an additional 1,349,713 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 25,690,491 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $3,152,974,000 after buying an additional 314,489 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,980,700,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 10,616,488 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $922,467,000 after buying an additional 2,038,641 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.92. The firm has a market cap of $227.33 billion, a PE ratio of 26.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 23rd. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.86. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 17.21% and a net margin of 22.84%.The firm had revenue of $11.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.18 EPS. Micron Technology's revenue for the quarter was up 46.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Micron Technology has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 3.600-3.900 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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