Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 0.8% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 0.8% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $88.02 and last traded at $90.55. 6,859,142 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 25,553,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $91.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on MU. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut 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. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lowered Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $97.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market cap of $100.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.91 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released 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. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. Micron Technology’s quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Micron Technology by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,902,800,000 after acquiring an additional 206,499 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Micron Technology by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $2,451,987,000 after purchasing an additional 892,607 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 21.7% during the third 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 purchasing an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 30.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.