Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Shares Down 1.1% - Here's Why

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 1.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $79.05 and last traded at $79.87. 4,196,999 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 23,251,154 shares. The stock had previously closed at $80.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Micron Technology from $112.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price target on Micron Technology from $120.00 to $110.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Micron Technology from $250.00 to $200.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wedbush reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Micron Technology in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $125.00 price target on Micron Technology in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $126.48.

Micron Technology Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $95.95 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $93.22.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $8.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.93 billion. Micron Technology had a return on equity of 8.32% and a net margin of 13.34%. The business's revenue was up 38.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.03%.

Insider Activity at Micron Technology

In other Micron Technology news, EVP April S. Arnzen sold 15,000 shares of Micron Technology stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.18, for a total value of $1,442,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 164,769 shares in the company, valued at $15,847,482.42. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Mary Pat Mccarthy sold 2,404 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.93, for a total value of $223,403.72. Following the sale, the director now owns 27,358 shares in the company, valued at $2,542,378.94. The trade was a 8.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 19,808 shares of company stock valued at $1,858,424 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Micron Technology

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC raised its position in Micron Technology by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC now owns 600 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Micron Technology by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,157 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in Micron Technology by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,973 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 20,062 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $1,688,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Micron Technology by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 7,474 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $629,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 80.84% of the stock is 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.