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

Shares of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $94.08, but opened at $89.60. Micron Technology shares last traded at $91.97, with a volume of 8,043,724 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.77. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $102.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.62 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,470,875,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,109,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in 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 during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Micron Technology by 339.6% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,255,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $189,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,073 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $135,865,000. Institutional investors 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.