Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Given New $98.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) had its target price lowered by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $114.00 to $98.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.35% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on MU. Bank of America downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp cut their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

Micron Technology Stock Down 16.0 %

Shares of Micron Technology stock traded down $16.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $87.23. 62,437,751 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,780,791. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.09. The stock has a market cap of $97.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.28 and a beta of 1.16. Micron Technology has a 12-month low of $78.63 and a 12-month high of $157.54.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Micron Technology will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. This represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position 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 valued at $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% in 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 valued at $1,174,643,000 after purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 254.4% during the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,859,416 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $192,840,000 after purchasing an additional 1,334,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $145,470,000 after buying an additional 1,323,352 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.