Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 2.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price was up 2.7% during trading on Tuesday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $110.00 to $130.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as high as $114.35 and last traded at $113.90. Approximately 7,767,501 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 23,561,632 shares. The stock had previously closed at $110.95.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MU. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Monday, April 28th. KGI Securities upgraded Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.00.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $2,200,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 186,353 shares in the company, valued at $20,498,830. The trade was a 9.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,904 shares of company stock valued at $4,665,124. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Micron Technology in the first quarter valued at about $57,628,000. SWS Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. SWS Partners now owns 21,529 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,871,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Westbourne Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 555.9% in the 1st quarter. Westbourne Investments Inc. now owns 17,590 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,528,000 after purchasing an additional 14,908 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 312.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 138,878 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $12,067,000 after purchasing an additional 105,178 shares during the period. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 278.8% during the 1st quarter. Integrity Alliance LLC. now owns 20,901 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,816,000 after acquiring an additional 15,384 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a market cap of $129.67 billion, a PE ratio of 33.44 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $86.24 and a 200-day moving average of $92.43. 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 (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS 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 company had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. 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.