Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 1.6% – Here’s Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) shares dropped 1.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $96.64 and last traded at $97.26. Approximately 4,929,981 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 22,383,127 shares. The stock had previously closed at $98.84.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MU. Bank of America cut Micron Technology from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $125.00 to $110.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.96.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.91. 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 stock has a market cap of $107.63 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84 and a beta of 1.18.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion during 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%. Micron Technology’s revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.95) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total transaction of $416,676.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Micron Technology in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Micron Technology by 114.9% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 374 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Micron Technology in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 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.