Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Rating Increased to Outperform at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $150.00 price target on the semiconductor manufacturer's stock, up from their previous price target of $115.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho raised their target price on Micron Technology from $105.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Micron Technology from $78.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Micron Technology from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $103.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $123.60.

Micron Technology Trading Up 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MU traded up $5.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $120.13. 22,115,618 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,287,666. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.62 billion, a PE ratio of -34.82 and a beta of 1.27. Micron Technology has a 12-month low of $59.55 and a 12-month high of $130.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 3.74.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by $0.69. The business had revenue of $5.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.35 billion. Micron Technology had a negative return on equity of 8.98% and a negative net margin of 20.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 57.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.03) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 0.24 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is currently -13.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $5,850,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 728,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $94,712,410. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.30, for a total value of $583,377.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 148,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,753,868.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $5,850,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 728,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $94,712,410. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 323,890 shares of company stock worth $36,079,267 in the last 90 days. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,833,670 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $737,015,000 after buying an additional 80,345 shares during the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 492.3% in the third quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 26,444 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,799,000 after purchasing an additional 21,979 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Micron Technology by 11.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,807,926 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $599,203,000 after acquiring an additional 927,302 shares in the last quarter. Merlin Capital Inc purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the third quarter valued at approximately $407,000. Finally, Amitell Capital Pte Ltd boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 97.9% in the third quarter. Amitell Capital Pte Ltd now owns 95,210 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $6,477,000 after buying an additional 47,105 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.84% of the company's stock.

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.