Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 2.6% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price dropped 2.6% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $94.20 and last traded at $94.44. Approximately 7,446,097 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 22,731,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $96.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MU has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $130.00 to $163.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $91.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.63.

Micron Technology Trading Down 2.9 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.40. The company has a market capitalization of $104.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.16 and a beta of 1.23. 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 earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. 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 previous year, the business earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. This trade represents a 8.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 602.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 114.9% in the fourth quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other 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.