Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading 2.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares traded up 2.1% during trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $115.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as high as $98.42 and last traded at $96.67. 12,123,322 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 22,466,174 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.72.

MU has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.63.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $554,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 350,612 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $29,507,000 after acquiring an additional 32,502 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 38,002 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,198,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $6,060,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 44,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 15,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $104.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.14 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $96.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $98.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

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.