Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) were down 0.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $89.61 and last traded at $91.76. Approximately 6,241,879 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 22,254,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.13.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MU. KGI Securities raised shares of Micron Technology to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their price target on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.96.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $101.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 11.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,973 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,688,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.