Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $110.00 price target on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock, down from their previous price target of $125.00.

MU has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Micron Technology in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price target on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Micron Technology from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Trading Up 3.5 %

Micron Technology stock opened at $90.12 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Micron Technology has a 12 month low of $79.15 and a 12 month high of $157.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.54. The stock has a market cap of $100.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 132.53 and a beta of 1.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its earnings results 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 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 the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. The trade was 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,625 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. raised its stake in Micron Technology by 4.2% during the third quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% during the third 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 boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,955 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $257,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.