Micron Technology Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 256,329 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 22% compared to the typical volume of 209,952 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MU. Raymond James raised their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

NASDAQ MU opened at $99.26 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $98.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $110.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 145.97 and a beta of 1.18. Micron Technology has a 1-year low of $79.15 and a 1-year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 261.1% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the last quarter. 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.