Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $135.24.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

MU opened at $103.19 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Micron Technology has a 12-month low of $79.15 and a 12-month high of $157.54. The business has a 50 day moving average of $98.36 and a 200-day moving average of $101.53. The stock has a market cap of $114.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,976 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,206 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $606,000 after purchasing an additional 3,838 shares during the period. Optas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Optas LLC now owns 6,341 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares in the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter valued at $2,604,000. Finally, Rheos Capital Works Inc. grew its position in Micron Technology by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 129,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,857,000 after purchasing an additional 19,000 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.