Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Up 1.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating. Morgan Stanley now has a $220.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $160.00. Micron Technology traded as high as $201.00 and last traded at $190.96. Approximately 36,229,404 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 55% from the average daily volume of 23,390,404 shares. The stock had previously closed at $187.83.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. CLSA started coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, August 27th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Micron Technology from $170.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Summit Insights upgraded Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Micron Technology from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $187.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.86, for a total value of $2,712,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 310,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,093,367.28. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.04, for a total value of $2,460,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 131,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,584,383.20. This trade represents a 10.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,456 shares of company stock valued at $15,698,445. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,318 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $532,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 1st quarter worth about $577,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at about $252,000. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,766 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 36.7% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,104 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $136.49 and its 200-day moving average is $111.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $213.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.56.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 3rd will be paid a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 3rd. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.06%.

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.