Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 1.6% – What’s Next?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) fell 1.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $98.30 and last traded at $100.28. 13,295,042 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 29,070,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reduced their target price on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective 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. BNP Paribas lowered Micron Technology from an “outperform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. China Renaissance started coverage on Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, October 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $148.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $98.69 and its 200-day moving average is $103.97. The stock has a market cap of $110.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.09 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.64 and a quick ratio of 1.68.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 3.10% and a return on equity of 1.58%. The company had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. Micron Technology’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.115 per share. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 13.26%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In related news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.21, for a total value of $416,676.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 181,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,442,011.83. This represents a 2.63 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MU. Stonebrook Private Inc. boosted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 2,454 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Micron Technology by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 4,063 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 821 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,382 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $454,000 after buying an additional 104 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Micron Technology by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,357 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.