Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $89.87, but opened at $95.57. Micron Technology shares last traded at $98.39, with a volume of 10,425,230 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MU. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.5 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.03. The company has a market capitalization of $110.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.19 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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 will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,326,224 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. 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.