Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares were down 1.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $102.34 and last traded at $103.19. Approximately 4,470,614 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 22,727,066 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.36.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MU shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Micron Technology from $180.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $96.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.76. 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 has a market capitalization of $110.06 billion, a PE ratio of 28.47 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Harmony Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 75.6% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,233,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 241.7% in the third quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 41,000 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,252,000 after buying an additional 29,000 shares during the period. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 26.4% in the third quarter. Chartwell Investment Partners LLC now owns 195,115 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $20,236,000 after buying an additional 40,802 shares during the period. Stablepoint Partners LLC acquired a new position in Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth about $569,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Micron Technology by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares in the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by 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.