Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 2.2% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price dropped 2.2% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $93.79 and last traded at $95.54. Approximately 6,669,736 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 22,107,545 shares. The stock had previously closed at $97.71.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MU. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $95.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $104.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.98 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 602.2% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.