Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 17.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU)’s stock price fell 17.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $145.00 to $128.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Micron Technology traded as low as $85.00 and last traded at $85.75. 42,447,487 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 96% from the average session volume of 21,693,350 shares. The stock had previously closed at $103.90.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $140.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $175.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.00, for a total transaction of $552,570.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 135,830 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,348,790. This trade represents a 3.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MU. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Micron Technology during the third quarter worth about $30,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1,096.3% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 323 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 128.6% during the 2nd quarter. Richard W. Paul & Associates LLC now owns 256 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DT Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 325 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.84% of the company’s stock.

Micron Technology Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 2.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market cap of $94.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 125.21 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $103.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.09.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 1.58% and a net margin of 3.10%. The firm’s revenue was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 8.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.115 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Micron Technology’s payout ratio is 67.65%.

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.