Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 1.1% Higher - What's Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $79.10 and last traded at $78.24. 6,645,838 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 23,200,618 shares. The stock had previously closed at $77.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report 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 report on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $92.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $127.04.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.1 %

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 company has a market capitalization of $85.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $85.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $94.62.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. Micron Technology's quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.42 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given 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 dividend yield of 0.60%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,857,205 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $8,403,982,000 after acquiring an additional 888,087 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 34.6% in 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 last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake 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 buying an additional 15,993,036 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,052,973,000 after acquiring an additional 726,282 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,470,875,000. 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.