Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) saw unusually-high trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 11,453,681 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the previous session’s volume of 22,205,254 shares.The stock last traded at $106.38 and had previously closed at $99.26.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MU shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Monday, October 28th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $148.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $98.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.00. The stock has a market cap of $110.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.19 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% during the 3rd 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 worth $1,174,643,000 after buying an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC boosted its position in Micron Technology by 254.4% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $192,840,000 after buying an additional 1,334,690 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,233.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,430,619 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $145,470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,323,352 shares in the last quarter. 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.