Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 1.6% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $67.92 and last traded at $69.88. 7,954,263 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 23,225,666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $71.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MU. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. China Renaissance cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $84.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Micron Technology from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.36.

Micron Technology Stock Down 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $76.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.18. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $88.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.14.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is presently 11.03%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 164,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % 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 Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $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 holdings in Micron Technology by 3.8% during the 4th 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. grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $1,688,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Micron Technology by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.