Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Given New $120.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its price objective trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group dropped 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 report on Tuesday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.26.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

MU traded down $0.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $86.68. 15,239,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,870,152. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.47 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $103.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Micron Technology has a 1-year low of $79.15 and a 1-year high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value 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 $15,348,790. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MU. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% in the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 57.2% during the second quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in Micron Technology by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 5.6% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.