Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $102.50, but opened at $105.61. Micron Technology shares last traded at $109.85, with a volume of 10,423,609 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MU. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Micron Technology from $172.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.71 and a beta of 1.16. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $103.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.12.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.21) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harmony Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 75.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $4,252,000 after buying an additional 29,000 shares during the last quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 26.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global X Japan Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 23.1% during the third quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 51,832 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,375,000 after acquiring an additional 9,735 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.