Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) Trading Down 1.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Micron Technology's stock price decreased by 1.1% to $107.81, with trading volume significantly low at 3.6 million shares compared to its average of 23 million shares.
• Analysts are optimistic, with upgrades from several brokerages; Barclays and KeyCorp raised their price targets to $140.00 and $160.00, respectively, listing the stock as "overweight."
• The company reported earnings of $1.91 per share, surpassing estimates, and declared a dividend of $0.115 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) was down 1.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $106.75 and last traded at $107.81. Approximately 3,604,847 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 23,085,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $109.06.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on MU. Wall Street Zen raised Micron Technology from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $120.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Micron Technology from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Micron Technology from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on Micron Technology from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Micron Technology currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $146.44.

Micron Technology Trading Up 3.1%

The stock has a market cap of $125.52 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.37. The company's fifty day moving average is $115.16 and its 200-day moving average is $98.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.75 and a quick ratio of 1.89.

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The semiconductor manufacturer reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.57 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $9.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.83 billion. Micron Technology had a net margin of 18.41% and a return on equity of 13.60%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Micron Technology, Inc. will post 6.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Micron Technology Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 7th were paid a $0.115 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 7th. This represents a $0.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Micron Technology's dividend payout ratio is 8.29%.

Insider Transactions at Micron Technology

In other news, EVP Scott J. Deboer sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.00, for a total value of $2,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 186,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,498,830. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Sumit Sadana sold 92,638 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.49, for a total value of $11,625,142.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 201,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,264,399.74. This trade represents a 31.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 286,042 shares of company stock valued at $34,679,277 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Micron Technology

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MU. Duquesne Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Micron Technology during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,412,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Micron Technology by 74.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,646,936 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock worth $222,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,680 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Micron Technology by 195.2% in the 1st quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 15,650 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 10,348 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Micron Technology in the 1st quarter valued at about $7,720,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Micron Technology by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,650,957 shares of the semiconductor manufacturer's stock valued at $138,945,000 after buying an additional 238,687 shares during the last quarter. 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.