Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $102.50, but opened at $105.61. Micron Technology shares last traded at $109.85, with a volume of 10,423,609 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Micron Technology from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.04.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $103.58 and a 200 day moving average of $109.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.34 billion, a PE ratio of 161.10 and a beta of 1.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly 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. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 53,402 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $7,024,000 after buying an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 1.1% in the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 11,392 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,498,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Micron Technology by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,500 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Micron Technology by 42.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,299 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,467 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.