Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 8.1% Higher - Time to Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 8.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $94.20 and last traded at $92.79. Approximately 12,601,881 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 23,285,353 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MU. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered 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 note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $107.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.77 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $82.74 and its 200-day moving average is $92.81.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% during the fourth 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 World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,449,827 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,052,973,000 after buying an additional 726,282 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,470,875,000. 80.84% of the stock is 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.