Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 0.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 0.9% on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $190.00 to $175.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $87.68 and last traded at $87.96. 3,256,663 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 21,257,572 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.73.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Micron Technology from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. BNP Paribas downgraded Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and twenty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $148.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.86, for a total transaction of $664,355.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 142,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,335,731.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.1% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,931,811 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $227,741,000 after purchasing an additional 20,741 shares during the last quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. bought a new stake in Micron Technology in the second quarter worth $4,056,000. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 1,916.7% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 50,134 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,910,000 after purchasing an additional 47,648 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 531,637 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $45,383,000 after purchasing an additional 28,649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 6.3% during the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 99,839 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $11,770,000 after acquiring an additional 5,958 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Micron Technology Trading Down 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $97.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -61.94 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 3.41 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $6.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.67 billion. Micron Technology had a negative net margin of 7.20% and a negative return on equity of 4.01%. The business’s revenue was up 81.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.57) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is -32.39%.

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.