Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Gap Up on Strong Earnings

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $95.77, but opened at $113.10. Micron Technology shares last traded at $112.21, with a volume of 25,833,613 shares trading hands.

The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.21) earnings per share.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently -32.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. UBS Group reduced 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. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.38.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. DecisionPoint Financial LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 230.7% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 248 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 128.6% in the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 272 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Micron Technology Stock Down 2.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $97.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.41, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $119.20 billion, a PE ratio of -76.02, a PEG ratio of 0.20 and a beta of 1.17.

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.