Micron Technology Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:MU)

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 259,705 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 41% compared to the average daily volume of 183,679 call options.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

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

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 128.6% during the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 57.2% in the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MU shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Susquehanna dropped 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. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Friday, December 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

Shares of MU opened at $108.60 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.99 billion, a PE ratio of 159.71 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $103.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.12. Micron Technology has a 52 week low of $78.63 and a 52 week high of $157.54.

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

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.65%.

Micron Technology Company Profile

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.