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

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $109.23, but opened at $104.79. Micron Technology shares last traded at $104.35, with a volume of 4,248,316 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MU. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $114.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 2.72. The company has a market cap of $114.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $98.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.53.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was 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 directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This trade represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stonebrook Private Inc. grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 2.5% in the third quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 14.3% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $85,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $454,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.