Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.4% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) was down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $84.76 and last traded at $85.00. Approximately 4,970,418 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average daily volume of 21,888,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $85.31.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $93.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.97 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.70 and its 200 day moving average is $106.38.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,902,800,000 after buying an additional 206,499 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after buying an additional 892,607 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% in 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 valued at $1,174,643,000 after acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. 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.