Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 1.8% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 1.8% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $100.75 and last traded at $100.93. 5,901,128 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 21,245,166 shares. The stock had previously closed at $102.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MU. BNP Paribas lowered Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup cut their price target on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Stock Down 4.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $109.30 billion, a PE ratio of 148.43 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.64, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.64 and a 200 day moving average of $110.23.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business had revenue of $7.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 67.65%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 128.6% during the second quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 144 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 purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davis Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.