Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.6% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) traded down 1.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $100.29 and last traded at $101.48. 4,224,556 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 22,698,897 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MU has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $98.00 to $91.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.16.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.65 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $96.80 and its 200 day moving average is $98.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 2.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total transaction of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 27,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,470,875,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 63.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 41,096,391 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $3,458,673,000 after buying an additional 15,993,036 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 47,672,462 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,012,114,000 after acquiring an additional 12,249,341 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 139.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 16,281,620 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,370,280,000 after acquiring an additional 9,489,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its position in Micron Technology by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 16,437,080 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,383,442,000 after acquiring an additional 4,375,232 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.