Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Given New $98.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $112.00 to $98.00 in a report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

MU has been the subject of a number of other research reports. China Renaissance cut shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Micron Technology from $115.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU stock opened at $85.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. Micron Technology has a 1 year low of $61.54 and a 1 year high of $157.54. The firm has a market cap of $95.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Analysts predict that Micron Technology will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders 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 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,378 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,062,000 after buying an additional 8,780 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 43.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 14,178 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,193,000 after purchasing an additional 4,264 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $569,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in Micron Technology by 167.0% during the fourth quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,758 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,851,000 after purchasing an additional 28,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH raised its stake in Micron Technology by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 502,374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $42,280,000 after purchasing an additional 52,729 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.