Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s share price was down 3.5% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $96.64 and last traded at $98.20. Approximately 17,013,781 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 21,485,566 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $153.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $190.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $100.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Micron Technology has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.04.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.80. The company has a market cap of $108.88 billion, a PE ratio of 144.41 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.68 and a current ratio of 2.64.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, September 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $7.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.65 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 93.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.21) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were issued a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Micron Technology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total value of $552,570.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake 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 valued at $5,001,592,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434,568 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 37,631,860 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,902,800,000 after buying an additional 206,499 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,451,987,000 after buying an additional 892,607 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Micron Technology by 21.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 2,022,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Micron Technology by 30.6% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,109,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,477,985 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

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.