Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Stock Price Down 0.8% - Should You Sell?

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) shares dropped 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $103.25 and last traded at $103.97. Approximately 6,526,423 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 24,212,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $104.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MU. Cantor Fitzgerald cut 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. Bank of America cut shares of Micron Technology from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $125.00 to $110.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group cut their target price on Micron Technology from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Micron Technology from $145.00 to $128.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $135.24.

Micron Technology Stock Down 1.6 %

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 firm has a market capitalization of $114.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $98.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.72.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 18th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.19. Micron Technology had a net margin of 13.34% and a return on equity of 8.32%. The firm had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.115 dividend. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 4,890 shares of Micron Technology 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. The trade was a 2.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,226,710 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $5,001,592,000 after buying an additional 1,434,568 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 206,499 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,723,545 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $2,451,987,000 after purchasing an additional 892,607 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Micron Technology by 21.7% in the third 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 valued at $1,174,643,000 after buying an additional 2,022,180 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Micron Technology by 30.6% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 10,564,198 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,109,769,000 after buying an additional 2,477,985 shares during the period. 80.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.